Night of the Living Braindead
by Benji The Vampire Confuser
Summary: High rating mostly for swearing. The X-Men and their allies investigate a rash of disapearances, and attacks by zombie-like creatures. Written long ago.
1. Prologue

**X Men: Night of the Living Brain Dead**

**by Benji: The Vampire Confuser**

_All characters are the property of Marvel Comics. Except for Hotshot, he's mine._

**Prologue**

**Vermont**

"DIE MUTIE DIE." The words would hang in Will's memory forever. "DIE MUTIE DIE." Light from a nearby street lamp lit up his tear and blood streaked face.

His clothes were burned and scorched from the fire, but his short blond hair was not the least bit singed. Nor was his skin burned. He had suffered no physical damage from the fire whatsoever. But the emotional scars would be a long time healing. "DIE MUTIE DIE."

Each heartbeat sent waves of white hot pain through what was left of his left eye, and sent more blood out through the rest of his wounds as well.

"DIE MUTIE DIE." Somehow they had found out about him. _But I was so careful_. he thought. _How could they have found out?_ Somehow, somewhere he had slipped, and someone had seen him use his power. And now his parents were dead.

"DIE MUTIE DIE." Will thought hard about where he could go. No one knew he was a Mutant. He decided that his best bet was his Grandparents. If he could make it that far.

Then, a silent, foreboding man dressed all in purple stepped out of the alley before him. His entire body was covered in purple cloth. Only a tinted visor for his eyes broke the pattern.

Will stared in surprise for a moment. Who was this man and what did he want? He decided it was nothing good. He tried to run, but his legs buckled. He was too weak from his injuries to escape.

He saw the man come towards him as he blacked out.

To Be Continued…


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The subways filled quickly as more and more people headed to work. Alex and Guido were slowly becoming aware of the stares they were getting.

"This' starting to get ugly boss." Guido warned.

"You don't think they're going to turn violent do you?" Alex asked.

"No but when you're as big as I am, you need all the room you can get."

* * *

High above, the local traffic copter hovered over the city. Inside, Trish Tilby was in a bad mood.

"I can't believe I've been reduced to this." she complained.

"It's just a slow news day Trish." answered the pilot. "Don't take it personally."

Then Trish saw something that cheered her up very quickly. "It won't be for long." she said, brightening. "Check that out!"

The pilot and the cameraman looked where she was pointing. Up ahead stood the Washington Monument, but what had caught the famous reporter's eye was what was on top of it. It was a man, dressed all in purple, and his face was hidden by a visored mask. He was standing perfectly still on the point of the monument. Suddenly he leaned forward sharply.

"He's gonna jump!" Trish yelled in shock. "Quick, turn on the camera!" As the camera man complied she prepared to address the public.

"This is Trish Tilby reporting live from above the city, bringing you this exclusive report. Are you getting this Tommy?"

Tommy turned the camera to tape the scene unfolding.

The mysterious man flew from the top of the monument and dived into the ground. In a huge explosion of dirt, and cement a subway train emerged from the ground, carried by the mystery man. Trish stared in horror as the man flew swiftly away with his unusual cargo. She gripped her microphone tightly, unable to believe what had just happened.

Trish yelled at the pilot to follow him, but he easily out distanced them.

* * *

Alex grabbed a seat as the train seemed to tip over.

"Guido! What the hell's happening?"

"Dunno boss, I'll take a look see."

Somehow managing to get through the crowd of panicking passengers, Guido looked out the window.

"What do you see?" Alex shouted over the screaming passengers.

"Some guy with really weird pajamas is stealing the Train! You want I should get us out of here?"

Finally managing to get to a window, Alex joined his friend and teammate. "No. We're too high up, we'd never make it."

"So what should we do? Ask him to drop us off at headquarters?"

"For now we wait Guido. And try to calm these people down."

* * *

Val Cooper looked numbly at the television screen, as the broadcast ended, then turned off the TV For a moment she sat with her head in her hands. This was the third such event in a month. The first had been a plane, the second a bus. And now, a train. Until now, X-Factor had been too busy with other assignments, but now the time had come to stop this.

"We've got to do something about this." she said to herself. She thought for a minute, then picked up the phone.

* * *

Lorna was just getting out of the shower when the phone rang. "Hello?...Val hi...no Alex left early today with Guido. Why don't you try calling headquarters?...He's not there yet?...Oh my god another one?...Yes I'll go right now... okay bye."

Lorna hung up the phone slowly, numbly. Alex had said that he was going to take the metro to headquarters. But he hadn't arrived yet, and a subway train had been stolen. What if Alex had been on board that train?

_No._ she thought, shaking her head. _I can't allow myself to think about that. I've got to get hold of the rest of X-Factor. And I can best do that as Polaris._

In minutes she had put on her uniform. Leaving a message for Rahne, she went off to find Jamie, Forge and Random.

* * *

Jubilee woke in a strange room. After a moment of panic, she remembered where she was. As she sat up in bed she surveyed the room she shared with Illyanna and Xi'an.

They were visiting Rahne Sinclair, an old friend of Illyanna and Xi'an's. Even though they'd only met a few times, Jubilee and Rahne were good friends as well. Jubilee got up from the bed and glanced at the clock. It was nine a.m. and she was ready to start the day. She had an unusual amount of energy for so early in the morning. Usually she was dead until eleven. Being careful not to wake her friends, Jubilee got dressed and went off to the kitchen to get breakfast. Instead she found a worried Rahne at the table.

"Hey, what's up?" she asked.

"Trouble." Rahne answered.

* * *

"I appreciate your offer girls, but no." Polaris said.

Jubilee stared in surprised indignation at the faces in the main room of X-Factor's base.

"Why not?" she asked challengingly.

"Because," answered Polaris, "Even though you're all experienced, if any thing happened to you I'd have to explain it to the rest of the X-Men and that's not something I'd relish."

"Look," said Jubilee, "There's a not a single one of the X-Men who would blame you for anything stupid that we might do." she stopped for a moment, thinking about what she'd just said. "That didn't come out right.

"Anyway, there's not a single argument that you can think of that I don't have an answer for, and frankly I don't think you can afford to say no. You've already lost two of your more experienced members to whatever is going on. I think that we can more than make up for that loss."

"I can assure you that we've thought this out Ms. Dane." said Xi'an.

"Not to mention the fact that there's no use trying to argue with Jubilee." added Illyanna.

"All right then." Forge cut in, mostly to shut them up. "Jubilee, Karma, Majik, you're in."

"Forge..." started Polaris.

"I'm in charge of this team Polaris, and we need all the help we can get. Besides, we don't have time to argue." His tone said that the discussion was closed. Without giving Polaris a chance to open it again, he started the briefing.

"We've obtained an approximate trajectory of the subway train. A man flying through the air carrying a train attracts a lot of attention. The trail ends here." he pointed to a spot on the map, somewhat north of Rhode Island.

"I've tapped into the satellite systems and have located the missing plane and bus." He pointed to two more points on the map.

"Karma, Jubilee, Multiple Man, Random, and Polaris will investigate the plane and the metro, which are close together. The rest of us will check the bus. I've contacted Quicksilver to help us."

No sooner had he spoken, when there was a great rush of air, and there among them stood Quicksilver.

"What took you so long?" asked Multiple Man.

"I had to visit my father," he said, not getting the joke, "He hasn't been feeling well lately."

In the X-Men's latest encounter with Magneto and his followers, he almost fatally injured Wolverine. Professor Xavier had already determined that this should be the last time they faced Magneto. The attack on Wolverine reinforced his determination and he wiped Magneto's mind clean. He had since attempted to restore his old friend's mind, but there were still many problems.

"The strain of reintegrating his mind is beginning to tell on him huh?"

"Yes, and thank you for your concern."

"Much as I hate to break up this soap opera scene," said Random, "Can we get going?"

* * *

Jubilee had never had much time to appreciate nature in her life, so she really didn't understand Paige's obsession. But now, in the mountains, she could see where people might be impressed.

"Not bad," she said. "Maybe when this is over I should actually go with Paige on one of her hikes."

"Yeah it's beautiful." Random said without much enthusiasm. "Now where is this stinkin' plane?"

At that moment, they broke through the tree line where the plane had been abandoned.

"Well," Multiple Man quipped. "Guess we found the plane." The abandoned 747 rose up before them, looking no worse for wear.

"Okay so now what?" Karma asked. "Doesn't look like there's anybody home."

"Well we might as well check inside." Random said. Suddenly, a faint rustling was heard in the bushes. "Wait do you hear something?"

Karma stepped on a twig, snapping it, startling Jubilee.

"Nice try Random. But I'm a bit too old for that routine." said Jubilee.

"No wait, I hear it too. Do you Polaris?" asked Multiple Man.

"Yes," the rustling became louder, "Karma, do you sense anybody?"

"No." Karma said.

The look of derision on Jubilee's face was gone, now replaced by one of sheer terror. "N-normally that w-would make me feel better, b-but it doesn't seem to help now, look."

They looked in the direction that Jubilee was pointing. The entire clearing was surrounded by what looked like skeletons with skin. As they closed in, Jubilee thought _There's no way this is happening._ Then the things attacked.

* * *

"I can't raise them." said Forge.

"What could have happened?" Majik asked.

"Their radio could be down, or they ran into trouble."

"Perhaps I should investigate." Quicksilver suggested.

"No," Forge said, "They can take care of themselves. We have to continue our mission."

A rustle in the bushes, heralded Wolfsbane's return from her scouting mission. Changing back into her human form she said "I've found the bus but there's no sign of the passengers. There was no scent at all."

"That's exactly what we found at the train." Forge said.

"Now what do we do?" asked Wolfsbane.

"Let's take a look at that bus. Maybe there's something my scanner can pick up." They walked a mile and came to the site where the bus had been abandoned. It lay on it's side in a clearing. Wolfsbane entered it in her wolf form. Forge followed with a scanning device. Majik entered the clearing cautiously and drew the Soul Sword.

"Rahne, I'm picking up a faint electronic signal. Do you smell anything at all?" Wolfsbane shook her head. "It's coming from over here." Forge moved to the driver's seat. "I found it. It's some sort of bomb but it's not an explosive." Then his scanner picked up something else. "It's still armed!" Before he could warn anyone, the entire clearing was flooded with a burst of knockout gas. Everyone in the clearing was unconscious within three seconds. Quicksilver ran from the clearing, but it was too late. He staggered two feet before the gas finally took hold.

To be continued...


	3. Chapter2

**Chapter 2**

Will's entire week was hectic. On Mondays he had martial arts class, in Kung fu and Ninjitsu. And Tuesday through Friday he had music lessons with a different instrument each time: harmonica, guitar, piano and banjo. Then on weekends he hacked into the information superhighway. In school he was in the choir, and the band. As a result, he had very little time for school work. And yet due to the fact that he had a perfect photographic memory, he managed to get all A's and B's.

Will returned home that Monday a little late due to a conversation he'd had with the teacher. Seems he was the most advanced student in the class, and his teacher wanted him to represent the dojo in this year's tournament. Will had not enjoyed having to turn him down. It sounded like fun but he really didn't have time.

He walked up the steps to front door of his building and pulled his key from his back pocket. But as he inserted the key into the lock, he noticed something wrong, the door was already unlocked. _What idiot forgot to lock the door?_ he thought.

He shrugged and let himself in, locking the door behind him. He ascended the stairs to the apartment he shared with his parents effortlessly. Having lived here for most of his 19 years, he was used to the climb. Walking down the hallway, he happily contemplated the night's sleep he was going to get. He was practically dead on his feet. But all thoughts of sleep left him when he reached his apartment. A sudden rush of adrenaline banished the tiredness faster than he could read the sign on the door.

The lock was broken, and fine mist of smoke filled the air. But what truly occupied his mind was the message spray-painted on the door: "DIE MUTIE DIE". Fearing the worst, he burst into the apartment and immediately tripped over something on the floor. He picked himself up and turned on the light, cursing with fear and anger. The scene revealed to him by the light, froze his blood and stilled his tongue.

His parents were lying on the floor, blood seeping from gaping holes in their heads. There could be no doubt that they were dead.

Will barely made it to the bathroom before his stomach reacted violently to what he had just seen. He stood over the toilet for a moment, his eyes clenched shut against the horror he had just seen. His parents were dead, murdered. Tears welled up in his closed eyes, threatening to break loose from behind his lids. His stomach lurched again, but this time, he held it down. Then, he remembered the smoke.

Being careful not to look in the direction of his parents, he followed the trail of smoke to the kitchen. He entered to find a thin column of the gas whisping from the oven. He opened it, his curiosity getting the better of him, and saw that there was something inside.

Before he could remove it, the oven exploded.

The explosion sent him hurtling like a cannonball out the window to the alley below. He hit the outside wall of the building next door, then fell nearly ten stories, but more damage was done to the ground than to him.

For a moment, Will lay on his back, watching the flames pouring out of the windows, in shock of what had just happened. Then he gingerly picked himself off the ground. He was only slightly amazed to find that he was not hurt at all. He'd not been aware of his full potential until now. Even though his clothes had been burned beyond recognition by the explosion, he was not even singed. Nor had he been hurt from his fall. His undamaged state was to change drastically however.

"Well well well, my friends what do we have here?" said an arrogantly amused voice behind him. "Looks like our freak friend here didn't die after all." Will looked up. Standing in the alleyway, blocking his escape, were five young men. He recognized one from school, but he did not know the others. Before what the leader had said could register, the closest one threw a brick that connected solidly with his chest. Though not hurt, he was knocked back into the alley, and they closed in.

The first hit him in the side of the head with a heavy length of pipe. Will's head rocked back, and bounced off the wall. But much to the boys' astonishment and fear, he not only wasn't hurt but he was ready to fight.

"I'm sorry," he growled, "Was that supposed to hurt?" He let loose with a flurry of punches that quickly brought his assailant to the ground.

Before the others could react he took a flying leap at the leader and felt his foot strike his jaw. The leader went down like a marionette whose strings had been cut. While Will was distracted, another boy had managed to get around behind him. He quickly got Will in a full nelson, and stood on his feet, immobilizing him. Will struggled, but the boy was too strong. The two remaining boys produced knives from their pockets, and came towards him, grinning.

The first to reach him sliced open Will's left arm, and laughed at his scream of pain. A minute later they had produced several deep cut in his arms and legs.

"Why-why are you doing this?" Will gasped in pain.

"Because your a mutant, fucker. And we couldn't let such a marvelous effort go to waste could we?"

Wills face reddened with fury as he realized what he meant. "You killed my parents?"

"That's right you mutilated freak. And now we're going to kill you."

"You son of a bitch!" Will screamed, and slammed his head back into the nose of the boy holding him. The boy released him and held his nose, groaning. Then Will hit him in the neck with his elbow, and cracked his head against the wall. The first boy with the knife lunged at him. Will dodged effortlessly, the pain of his injuries all but forgotten. Will grinned and caught the boy's wrist. "My turn asshole." He gave his wrist a twist and heard bone snap. Then he took hold of the front of the boy's jacket and threw him into the side of a nearby dumpster.

The last remaining boy threw himself at Will. Will grabbed the boy's hand and concentrated. The blade of the knife glowed red, then white. The boy screamed in pain as he felt his flesh burn. Will released his hand abruptly, and looked in stunned terror at what he had done.

Their leader lay unconscious with a broken jaw, the boy that had held him probably had a broken nose and a fractured skull. The others were injured just as badly. Will blanched, turned, and ran out of the alley.

"Fucking mutie." the boy who's hand he had burned said, and drew a gun from his jacket with his good hand. He aimed the gun and fired. The bullet entered through Will's left temple, and exited through his left eye.

Will howled with pain and thrust unthinkingly out behind him with his power. The wave of heat left nothing behind in the alley.

* * *

Will awoke with a start to find that he had been sleeping standing up. He examined himself, carefully. He was wearing a hospital smock, and his wounds had been dressed. There was only a dull ache and an odd hollow feeling where his left eye had been. Only after assuring himself that he was indeed still alive, did he pay any attention to his surroundings.

He was imprisoned in a tall transparent cylinder that had no visible exit. The cylinder stood on a slightly raised platform with LED's inside the cylinder on the floor and ceiling. The room itself was an amazing if frightening sight. There were several other similar cylinders in a row against the back wall. Two of them were occupied. The occupants were almost as unusual as the room itself, a blond ordinary looking man, and a huge man with a sprig of white hair. The walls were lined with banks of computers, of a type he had never seen. In the opposite wall, was an observation window beyond which was some sort of control room which, for now, was empty.

A door at the left of the room opened and a skinny man in a lab coat and sun-glasses came through. He wore a yellow bow-tie with red polka dots and had short red hair. The man looked at Will, and smiled when he saw that he was awake.

"I just came in to scare you." he said, grinning. "My name is Arcade. Me and my new partner are going to take over the world, and you are going to be one of our mindless slaves, that will help us do it. And now if you'll excuse me, I must now leave you unguarded after telling you my entire plan. Ta ta." With that, he left.

"Yeah, whatever." Will said. "I don't think I'll be hanging around long enough for you to be doing any mind control on me, weirdo." Will pressed his hands against the wall of the cylinder, and concentrated, attempting to call upon his power, but he was too weak.

_Damn._ he thought. _Now what do I do?_

"I can answer that." said a voice.

"Who, what, where?" Will asked in alarm. A young woman with long red hair had entered the room. Before he could ask how she knew what he was thinking, he heard her voice in his head.

_My name is Jean Grey. I'm a telepath. Don't be afraid, I'm going to get you out of here._ She went to the computer, and pressed a control. The cylinder slid up into the ceiling, releasing Will. Will tried to step out, but he collapsed. Jean helped him up.

"Easy," she said, "You're still very weak."

"What happened to me in there?" he asked.

"Arcade drained your strength to keep you from escaping, but now that you're out of the chamber, your strength will return soon."

"Good, well then let's get out of here."

Will, with Jean supporting him, headed for the door. They were halfway there, when Jean stopped short. She had a vacant look in her eyes for a moment, then she looked frightened.

"They know you've escaped." she explained quickly. "I'll try to hold them off, but you must get as far away from here as possible." She stared hard at the wall and a section of it blew out, creating a gaping hole to the forest beyond. "Get to the road to the east. A friend will pick you up there." Now Will could hear running footsteps approaching the room. "Before you go, there's just one more important thing I have to do." she said. She grabbed his head and closed her eyes. Will's head felt as if his mind was being forced to hold more than it was intended to hold. Then he knew only that he must get away. He turned to the hole in the wall, and began running.

* * *

Victor Creed drove leisurely down the mountain road, waiting for Jean's call and trying to appear inconspicuous. Which wasn't as hard as it used to be, now that he had more control over himself. Suddenly he heard Jean's voice in his head.

_Victor, plans have changed. Instead of me, you must pick up a young man, about 19 years old. He has short hair and he's wearing a hospital gown. He's also badly wounded so he'll need medical attention. I've placed all the information we need in his head. Hurry!_

_Why the change Red?_ he thought, but there was no answer. Victor smiled grimly. The hunt was on.

* * *

Will woke from one nightmare into another. He suddenly found himself running through the woods in a hospital smock. He did not know where he was or what had happened to him. He only knew he must keep running. There was something terrible behind him that he must escape. But he did not know how much longer he could keep this up, the exercise was quickly exhausting him and had reopened his wounds. The pain was terrible, and the loss of blood threatened to overwhelm him. Finally, when he could go no further, he staggered onto a road. Directly in the path of a car. The car struck him dead on, and threw him three feet into the air. He landed hard behind the car. The car screeched to a halt, and the driver's side door opened. Will was barely aware of the large figure that picked him up and placed him carefully into the passenger seat of the car. He blacked out as his seat belt was fastened.

* * *

Victor hit the brakes as soon as the boy staggered out of the woods, but he was unable to stop in time. Victor had driven with the window down so he could search for any unfamiliar scent. But instead he'd found a scent he knew well. The scent of blood. he'd followed it instinctively to this spot.

The boy was apparently unhurt by the collision but he was, as Jean had told him, seriously injured. He carefully put him in the car and headed for where he'd left the mini-jet.

* * *

Arcade glanced at his console where a screen showed the clearing where the bus had been abandoned.

"Well it's a good thing I put an X-tra bomb in that bus. It didn't even have to drop below 50 mph!" he laughed. "Wait a minute, what's this? Quicksilver escaped! Ah well, so her majesty's zombies have to go out of their way. It's not my problem." Almost on cue, the door behind him opened and a young woman with long black hair entered.

"But," she sneered, "What is your problem is that one of your 'zombies' has betrayed you."

"What are you talking about Selene?"

"Only this." She gestured, and Jean was dragged in by two of Selene's zombies.

Arcade could still not bear to look at them for long. The humans captured by Arcade's robot, they looked to him like the Cryptkeeper on that late night HBO show. These were Selene's victims. What comforted Arcade was that they were completely under her control, and that he was still indispensable to the Black Queen, so they would not attack him.

Jean, however had been severely battered by them. But she hadn't been cadaverized.

"So how exactly has she betrayed me?" he asked.

"She was too strong for your machine you fool! She helped the boy escape!"

"What? I had that thing on full power! How could even she have resisted it? I'll have to put in a bigger battery."

"Since you have failed to control her I will do it my way."

Arcade grimaced. "Fine. But not where I can see. I just ate. Oh by the way, Quicksilver managed to get out of the clearing before the gas got him."

"My servants have already dealt with him. But how shall we deal with our young escapee? This woman has placed all the vital information she has learned in his head."

"How do you know? I know, I know, you're a telepath. Anyway, it's no problem, I'll just send my newest 'recruit' after him."

To be continued...


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Will regained consciousness slowly. He was first aware of the returning pain of his injuries, then the soft seat under him. He slowly, opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He was riding in a small car speeding down a mountain road. He looked to his left at the driver. He was a big blond man, who looked slightly menacing, in that he had claws and fangs. Will tentatively cleared his throat.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, kid. My name's Victor Creed." said the man.

"What happened?" Will asked, his mind was still slightly fuzzy.

"I hit you with this car, that's what happened." Creed said, there was a slight edge to his voice, as if he concerned about something. Then Will remembered his injuries, and decided that must be it.

"Aside from that." he clarified. The collision had done no damage to him, but wondered briefly about the car. "All I remember is running through the woods, trying to get away from...something. It was as if I'd been sleep walking."

"You don't remember anything else? Anything at all?" Creed looked at him, obviously more concerned than before.

"No." Will said. There was a gap in his memory from the time he was attacked outside his apartment, to the time of the car hitting him. He wasn't used to not remembering things, and he didn't like it.

"Shit that's all I need." Creed said, irritated. "You've got amnesia."

"No it's not that bad," Will said quickly. "I just don't remember up to say, an hour ago."

Creed nodded, slightly relieved.

They were silent for a long time. Will gazed out the window, at the forest whizzing by. It was dark out by now, and so his vision was limited.

But he looked anyway, comforted by the knowledge that, the more forest that went by, the farther away he got from, whoever was after him. He had a strange sense of well being, for the first time he felt safe.

Wondering where they were headed, he looked to Victor, intending to ask. But Creed seemed to be in some sort of trance, or just really bored.

Will looked out the windshield for a moment and gasped. To his astonishment, he saw a huge boulder coming towards them. As it got closer however, Will saw that it wasn't really a boulder but a man. A very big man. He was almost bald except for one lock of white hair on his forehead. He looked very familiar to Will but he couldn't place him.

All at once the memories of the past hour rushed back to him, and he recognized the man. He had been one of the two other people imprisoned in the lab!

The man extended his left arm and began running to meet them.

"Heads up!" Will shouted.

Victor snapped out of his daydream, and stared in shock at the sight in front of him. Guido of X-Factor was going to try to kill them!

"Shit! Get down!" Victor shoved Will's head down below the dashboard and ducked, seconds before Guido clotheslined the car, ripping it's roof clean off. Victor and Will were showered with glass as the windows were smashed. Victor cautiously got up and looked back.

"When I tell you, jump out of the car." Will looked at in shock, but managed to nod. "With any luck he'll keep chasing me while you get away."

Will looked to his right, they were just passing an open field. _Oh,_ he thought. _Isn't that conveeeenient._

"All right, now!" Victor shoved Will out of the car, ripping the passenger door off in the process.

"I thought I was supposed to jump!" Will shouted.

He tumbled down the slope to the meadow. When he regained his footing he ran for the trees at the far side of it, ignoring the pain of his injuries old and new. In his fear, he unknowingly activated his power, leaving a path of scorched earth spotted with blood behind him as he ran. He found a tall tree with lots of cover and struggled as high as he could, and hid.

"Please don't find me, please don't find me!" he repeated softly.

Not long after, he heard something coming towards him.

"Oh god," he thought, "Please let that be Creed." But in the distance he saw that it was the man who had tried to kill him. Will wondered in panic how he had found him. Then he saw that his feet had burned his footprints into the ground.

Will had no illusions about escape. He was too tired to even climb out of the tree. The only way was to fall and that would make too much noise.

The man stopped at the tree, and looked up. Will's heart sunk to his toes. Suddenly a snarling beast leaped from the underbrush, and landed on the man's back. Then the beast looked up and Will saw that it was not a beast at all, but Creed.

"Get to the jet!" he roared, and pointed. Will could just make out a shape in the woods ahead.

He released his hold on the tree and pushed off with his legs. In peak condition, Will could have cleared the branches of the tree easily. As it was, he got just under a foot away from the trunk before he crashed through branches to the ground.

"The hurting." he moaned as once again, his injuries sent pain coursing through his body. He hoped he had enough energy and blood to escape. He slowly began to crawl towards the jet.

Sabertooth slashed at Guido with his claws. He did not want to hurt him, but he could not allow the boy to taken. Too much depended on him. Guido reached back, and grabbed Sabertooth by the neck, and threw him against a tree. The tree was toppled by the impact but Sabertooth was hardly fazed. He sprang at Guido again and managed to get a grip on his head. Guido struggled to throw him off once more, but Sabertooth hung on. He reached down and pulled off Guido's glasses. Then he jumped towards the jet. Guido was unable to follow without being able to see, and Sabertooth was able to get away. Along the way, he picked up the boy who had once again lapsed into unconsciousness. Victor put him in the jet and strapped him in. Then he fired up the engines and headed for home.

To be continued...


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Xavier was awakened by a knock at the door. He reached out with his mind and found that it was Warren.

_Yes Warren come in._ he thought.

"Sorry to wake you Professor but the mini-jet is returning, and Creed insists that you meet him in the infirmary."

"I'll be right there Warren." Xavier could sense the tension in Warren. _What could have gone wrong?_ he thought.

Ten minutes later, Xavier's hover chair glided silently into the infirmary.

"What happened Creed?" he asked patiently. "Why did you bring this child instead of Jean?"

"Red told me to pick up this kid instead of her. She didn't tell me why. I don't think she got a chance. All she said was that she put everything she learned in that kid's head. So when I found the kid, I brought him back."

"And you just left Jean?" Scott snapped.

"The fact that he did, probably saved this boy's life Scott." said Hank. "Judging by the severity of his injuries, any further delay on Creed's part would most likely have resulted in the boy's death."

"You're right Hank." Scott said quietly. "I just wish I knew what happened to her."

"We'll find her Scott." Xavier promised him. "Will the boy be all right Hank?"

"It's difficult to say Professor. He's in stable condition, but that only means that he won't get any worse. There's still the possibility of infection. And I don't know if he has any allergies, or head trauma. The biggest problem however is this," Hank pointed to the machine monitoring the boy's brain activity. It was flatlining. "He may never come out of his coma."

Xavier sat silently for moment. "Contact Betsy if there are any problems with his mind." With that, he left.

"Why can't he help with that?" Creed asked.

"Ever since Magneto, he just doesn't trust himself in anyone's mind anymore." Scott said.

* * *

The next day, Betsy came to the infirmary. Hank had asked her to come down to check for any damage to the boy's mind. She took a long look at the boy in the bed. He had an IV in his arm injecting blood to replace the blood he had lost. The slashes on his arms and legs had been re-stitched and bandaged, and there was a bandage over his left eye.

"He looks so peaceful Hank." she said "Are you sure that his coma will be permanent?"

"No. That's why I contacted you. I want you to see if there is any thing you can do to help him."

Betsy pulled a chair up to the bed and sat down. She studied the boy's face. He had the beginnings of a mustache and he could use a shave. She created a low level psionic blade and gently inserted it into his head.

Hank looked on hopefully. The meter still showed no impulses from the brain what so ever. He began to despair when suddenly the line jumped spasmodically.

"Oh my stars and garters. What was that?"

"I'm in." Betsy said simply.

The boy was in so much pain. It was all around her like an ocean of grief, despair and guilt. It was no wonder he didn't seem to want to wake up. Betsy probed for the boys consciousness, fighting past the pain. The pain began to take on shapes, forming pictures in Betsy's mind. Dead bodies, fire. Betsy didn't understand what they meant but she looked at them carefully for some clue. Finally she found a way through. An image of the boy formed in to her mind.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Betsy. I've come to help you."

"How?" he asked.

"Just take my hand" She reached out and took his hand in hers.

Betsy opened her eyes and found that she was holding the boy's hand. She released it and stood.

"Did it work?" she asked.

"All brain activity is back to normal. You did it."

* * *

Every day, Betsy would spend hours in the boy's mind looking for the information Jean placed in his head. She sifted through his entire memory but couldn't find it. Jean had hidden it too well. After two weeks she gave up. Hank worried about the morality of going into the boy's mind without the boy's permission.

"I do have his permission." she said. "I promised him I wouldn't talk about anything I found except what Jean hid."

* * *

Will woke and looked around him. He felt strangely refreshed, as if he'd been asleep for days. He was apparently in a hospital of some sort.

"How are you feeling Will?" someone asked. Will looked to his right. A strangely familiar Asian woman was sitting next to his bed. At first he couldn't quite place her but then he remembered where he'd seen her before.

"Wait a minute, you're the woman in my dreams!"

She smiled. "Like being reunited with an old friend isn't it?"

"You hit the nail right on the head. It's really weird. Are you a telepath?"

"That's right. My name's-"

"Betsy. Yeah you told me." Will would have tapped his skull, but somehow he didn't think it would be a good idea. The pain had mostly receded, but there was no sense in aggravating it. "And you probably already know my name. In fact, I'm willing to bet you know me better than anyone else on the planet."

"You're may be right about that. But give yourself more credit, I couldn't know you better than you do."

"Well thank you for saying so. Now, what was your question?"

"I said, how are you feeling?"

"A lot better than I was before. How long was I out?"

"About two weeks." Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Xavier.

"Good morning Professor." said Betsy.

Will pushed himself into a sitting position to get a better look.

"Are you Professor Xavier?" he asked.

Xavier nodded. "I am indeed. You've heard of me then?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact I was going to apply to your school next year. That is if I could get up the nerve to tell my parents I was a mutant."

Xavier saw the grief in the boy's eyes as he said that.

"How did your parents die?" he asked.

Will was startled. _How did he know about that?_ he thought. "They were killed by an anti-mutant group, who were trying to get at me. They blew up my apartment." This news struck Xavier as familiar.

"Did you by any chance live in Burlington, Vermont?"

"Yes I did. Why? Was it in the news?"

"Yes it was. You're presumed dead."

Once again the sorrow flashed in his eyes. Then he sighed. "Well at least I don't have to worry about them coming after me again. Well anyway, why don't we start this off right." He extended his hand. "My name's Will Davidson."

Xavier shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Will. I'm Professor Charles Xavier. I believe you've already met Ms. Braddock." he said indicating Betsy.

Will shook Betsy's hand. "So am I well enough to be up and about? Or am I doomed to be an invalid for a while more?"

"We'll wait and see what Hank has to say." Xavier said.

Betsy followed Xavier out of the room.

"I'm worried about him professor, he was too off hand when he talked about his parents. I think he may repressing his grief, that can't be healthy."

"Let's give him a bit more time before we worry too much." Xavier answered.

* * *

Will was watching a recording of the news broadcast about the fire when a blue furry man walked in. Will forgot the TV and looked at the man in shock.

"A-are you for real, or am I hallucinating?"

"Oh I'm here all right. The name's Hank McCoy. And you must be Will." he extended his hand. Will took it gingerly, then shook it firmly, blushing with embarrassment.

"Oh don't be embarrassed," Hank said, "That's not an uncommon reaction to my appearance."

"So what's the verdict Doc?" Will asked. "Can I get out of bed yet?"

"I don't know why not. As long as you don't do anything really strenuous, you should be O.K."

"How long do you think it'll be before I can do strenuous exercises again?"

"At least another week."

"Oy."

To be continued...


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

A week passed. Then another. Finally, Hank pronounced him fully recuperated. "The only thing left to do," Hank said "is to decide what to do about your missing eye."

"Well, what are our options?" Will asked, thinking about glass eyes.

"Hmm. We've had some success in the past with cybernetic implants."

"You mean a robot eye?"

"Well sort of, but it would be more like an android. Do you know what the difference is?"

"Yeah, a robot is mechanical and an android is electrical."

"To put it in layman's terms, yes."

Will bristled. "I'm not a layman." he snapped.

Hank looked in surprise. "Sorry Will, I didn't mean to offend you."

"No I'm sorry, I didn't mean to blow up at you. I've been cooped up too long that's all."

"I'm sure you were. Now where were we?"

"The eye."

"Oh yes. We could make a cybernetic eye for you, but it might be hard for you to adjust to. There is one idea that you might like."

* * *

Will looked in the mirror, and studied his face. The eye-patch made him look like a pirate. His empty socket had been stuffed with synthetic skin and tissue, and the patch he wore was made of adamantium so it would protect the still vulnerable hole. Will smiled. "I like it." he said. As he turned from the mirror, the door opened and a short hairy man walked in.

"Ah," said Hank, "Logan. As you can see, I've managed to find a use for some of the adamantium from your skeleton."

Logan's skeleton had once been laced with a rare metal called Adamantium. It was only recently that the Adamantium had been forcibly removed by Magneto. Logan didn't like to think about it much. It was the closest he'd ever come to dying.

"That's great, Hank. How's the kid?" Logan said.

"Actually," Hank said, "I was hoping you could take him to the danger room so we can see just what his powers are."

"Sure. Come on kid," Logan said to Will, "Let's get you a spare uniform."

Soon Will stood in a large empty room wearing a blue uniform with a large red X on the front. Logan sat in the control room high above.

"All right kid," he said over the intercom, "The controls are set for the easiest difficulty level. You ready?"

"Yeah." said Will. "Give me your best shot."

"All right you asked for it."

The room changed from an empty gym to an ancient passage that looked like something from an Indiana Jones movie. Behind him was a thick jungle, in front of him was a long dark hallway.

He picked up a piece of wood from the floor and called upon his power. The wood erupted in flame giving off enough light to see by. He walked cautiously forward, peering at the floor for any signs of the booby traps he was sure would be there. Suddenly, a loud rumbling reached his ears from behind him. A slab of rock now blocked the way back.

He was sure he could get out that way if he had to, but he was content to go forward for now. He was passing through a small chamber when the first trap was sprung. A huge hammer swinging on a chain fell from the ceiling and swept the length of the room. On it's first pass, it caught him in the chest and propelled him into the wall. He was trapped because the hammer had stuck in the hole it had made. He pushed against the hammer with all his strength but it didn't budge. He concentrated on his hands and heated them as he pushed. The stone hammer slowly began to melt and flow out of the hole. When he was free again he continued on.

Logan recorded the information in the computer. Will was able to generate heat from at least his hands, possibly other areas of his body as well. He also was not hurt by the hammer. This meant that he was at least partially invulnerable. Logan decided to test just how far that power went.

Will walked carefully on. He soon found a passage with tiny holes in the wall. He did not know what would trigger the trap that was so obviously there, so he decided to run through. Behind him, he heard darts shoot through the air. He was almost to the end when a dart skimmed his skin. He winced and clapped his hand to his arm where the skin had been cut. He reached the end of the hallway and looked at his arm. It was just a superficial cut, the bleeding had already stopped.

Logan played back the sequence and zoomed in on the image of Will's arm as it was hit. The dart had merely scratched him, but it proved that Will was not completely invulnerable. It seemed that his invulnerability was limited to blunt objects. Since many bullets had points on them, it was not surprising that one had hurt him. Logan began to program in one last test for Will.

Will had begun to tire of this game. Nothing much had been happening and he wondered how much longer this was going to continue. Suddenly he heard Logan's voice from somewhere above him.

"All right kid, there's only one way out of here. And that's across this." A section of the wall fell away and molten lava flowed out into the passage. There was no way around, but there were vines with which to make a bridge. But Will decided not to waste his time with that. He dove in and began to swim across. It was like swimming through molasses but he was a strong swimmer.

"Holy shit." Logan was astounded. He turned the heat of the lava up to the maximum intensity, 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. Will's clothes caught fire, but Will himself wasn't the least bit affected.

Will reached the far side and called to Logan. "Could I get some more clothes?" he asked. "These seem to have had an accident."

* * *

Professor Xavier studied Logan's report. Will's powers of heat generation, and invulnerability to heat and blunt objects were impressive. As was Logan's opinion of him. He wondered at the potential power of these abilities. But for now there were more immediate concerns to worry about.

"You were unable to find the information that Jean placed in his mind?" he asked.

"Yes sir." said Betsy. "I looked for it when I was restoring his memory, but Jean buried it too far in his sub-conscious. I think she may have put in a fail safe so that it would be safe from the wrong hands."

"Well we can't keep him here to find it. I'm going to send him to my Massachusetts Academy. Since you know him the best, I would like you to accompany him."

"It would be my pleasure Professor."

* * *

Logan helped Will load the back of the car. The day before, Hank and Warren had taken Will shopping for clothes. Will was most impressed by the image inducers that they used. He'd been given one that made his patch seem to be cloth instead of metal. Will had wanted to buy more than just clothes, but he was assured that whatever else he needed would be provided at the Academy. As well as the suitcases, Logan tied a steamer trunk to the roof, telling him not to open it till he unpacked in his new room. Will was overjoyed to finally be going to the School he had heard so much about. He was even happier that Betsy was going with him.

* * *

On a rise near the Mansion a lone figure watched the preparations. The Black Queen, having not fed on psychic energies for a quite while now looked to be in her seventies. She would soon find a victim, but for now she needed to find out where the boy was going. It had not been hard to find him. Strong Guy had recognized Sabertooth, and Sabertooth was an X-Man. But to get so close to the X-Men's home she could not trust any of her vampires. The commotion below disturbed her. She did not know where they would take him, and worse yet she did not know if they had gotten the information out of him or not. She decided not to worry about finding him again, a boy with a eye patch would not be hard to spot. When the car left, she spurred her horse and rode away planning how to capture the boy.

To be continued...


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Will was nervous. He'd never been on a plane before. His parents had always driven everywhere. He couldn't understand what it was that he was afraid of. If the plane crashed what did he have to worry about? A stray piece of jagged metal or broken glass? The chances of that happening were slim, but never the less he was worried. His nervousness was momentarily replaced by amusement when his eye patch set off the metal detector at the gate. The guard made him empty his pockets, and then patted him down. Will realized that the patch made him look like a terrorist as well as a pirate. But the moment passed and the nervousness returned. Betsy saw his discomfort and smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry, it's safer than driving."

"Yeah," he replied, "But I know how to drive. I don't have the first idea about flying." Finally, it was time to board the plane. Will felt his discomfort change to anticipation as the plane taxied out onto the runway. By the time they were airborne he had decided that flying was the most fascinating sensation he'd ever felt.

After a while, the novelty wore off. In order to pass the time he decided to fill out the application and registration forms for the Massachusetts Academy.

He read the letter from the Board of Trustees, which turned out to Professor Xavier. Then he read the history of the Academy and the profiles on the Instructors. Next he filled out the application.

* * *

**Application for Entrance into the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters**

**1. Name:** _William Alexander Davidson_

**2. Date of Birth:** _6/28/78_

**3. Age:** _18_

**4. Sex:** _Male_

**5. Major:** _Music Performance_

**6. School Previously Attended:** _Burlington High_

**7. Grade most recently Completed:** _12_

**8. Extra Curricular Activities:** _Band, Chorus_

**Course Preferences**

**9.** _Genetics- The X Factor, Mutant Biology and Physiology_

**10.** _Energy Projection and Manipulation- Thermodynamics_

**11.** _Physical Education- Strength and Muscle Training, Dexterity, Acrobatics and Martial Arts_

**12.** _Seminars- Grace Under Pressure, Weaponry, Mechanics and Alien Technology, International Culture and History, Fine Arts: Specifically Instrumental Music- Piano, Guitar, Harmonica, Violin_

**13. Would you be interested in taking additional classes other than the ones you have indicated?** _Yes._

**16. All of our students have a code name by which they are known when they are in class. This name should fit in with your powers and\or personality. Please specify what you would like your code name to be:**

* * *

Will thought hard about this last one. He thought about his power and tried to come up with a name that made sense. Finally he had it. He filled out the last space on his application, Hotshot.

He spent the remainder of the trip alternately gazing out the window at the ground below and studying the face of the beautiful woman dozing in the seat beside him. He realized that while she knew everything about him, he knew next to nothing about her. He resolved to get to know her better later. He had always found it hard to be friends with someone he did not know very well.

* * *

"So what do ye think the lad'll be like Emma?" Sean asked.

"I honestly don't know Sean." Emma replied. "We'll just have to wait and see. How're you coming along in your attempts to communicate with Penance?"

"I've reached an impasse I'm afraid. The lass doesna respond to any language I've tried."

"Well perhaps she never learned any language per-se. Maybe we should try another plan of action, instead of communicating, we should try teaching her."

"Teach her to talk?"

"Sure, why not?"

"It's so crazy it just might work."

Emma got up. "I'm going to go pick up the young man. You sure you don't want to come?"

"No I think I'll start trying to teach Penance."

"Suit yourself. I'm looking forward to meeting him. Bye."

To be continued...


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The plane landed in Massachusetts only four hours late. The flight had grown bumpy in the last hour and Will had been sitting behind a baby who, frightened by the turbulence, had been screaming and crying. For a young child that boy had a powerful set of lungs. Will hadn't minded that, but when the mother began to hold the baby and comfort the boy, he was in the perfect position to throw up on Will. And he did. Just as Will had gotten up to clean himself off, the fasten seatbelts sign had gone on. By the time the plane landed, the stain had set in.

"Now everyone will think that I wet my pants." he complained to Betsy.

Betsy stifled a laugh and said "No they won't. That looks nothing like you wet your pants. It looks like you threw up on yourself."

"Oh well that's a load off my mind." Looking around at the crowd, he saw a woman in skimpy leather clothes. "Hey I didn't know that Hookers worked airports."

Betsy looked where he was looking and saw a tall woman with shoulder length blond hair coming towards them.

"Uh, that's your new head-mistress Emma Frost. And you'd do well not to think of her like that, she's telepathic."

Will tried to hide his surprise. "_That's_ the Head Mistress? What kind of school have I gotten myself into?"

Emma Frost approached slowly, taking the time to study the boy's mind. She found grief over his parents' death but nothing terribly interesting, the surprise at her choice of Wardrobe was only to be expected. The boy was watching her approach carefully, sizing her up just as she had sized him up. He was not a bad looking boy for his age, despite the eye patch. And the friendly smile he had was sure to help endear him to the other students.

"Hello Will," she said smiling, "I'm Ms. Frost."

"Pleased to meet you." he replied, and shook her hand.

"Hello Emma," Betsy said, "How is everything?"

"Just fine, except I'm concerned about Jubilee. But I'll talk to you about that later. Your bags somehow arrived ahead of you, and they're waiting back at the school. Shall we go?"

They had no trouble at the metal detector this time, Will suspected that Frost had shielded them from the guard.

The ride to the school was quite uneventful. Will didn't pay much attention to the scenery, as beautiful as it was. He was too anxious to see the school. When they finally arrived, Will was not disappointed. The school was every bit as large as he'd pictured it. There were many buildings on the campus, and it was surrounded on all sides by forest. Will hopped out of the car and looked at the main building. He walked towards the door and was met there by a man who introduced himself as Sean Cassidy, his new head instructor.

"Well lad, why don't I show you your new room?" Will followed Sean upstairs.

"So what should I call you?" Will asked.

"What d'ye mean lad?"

"Well should I call you Sean? Or would you prefer a last name basis?"

"Whatever ye're most comfortable with lad."

"All right then Cassidy, does the same go for the head mistress?"

"Just don't call her Emma."

"Thanks."

"Ye're welcome lad. Ah, here's your room. I'll let you get settled then. Feel free to explore the campus, the computer has a detailed map of the campus." with that the was gone.

Will set about unpacking his clothes. When he finished, he opened the trunk that Logan had packed. There was another lid inside with a note on it that said "Not everything was destroyed in the fire at your apartment kid, enjoy. -Logan." Eagerly, Will opened the trunk's inner lid and gasped. Apparently, his room had been virtually untouched by the fire. All his computer disks and his hacker's notes, had escaped destruction.

_It's a good thing I stored these things in fire resistant containers._ he thought. "I hope the disks are all right, you're not supposed to expose them to heat." One by one he fed the disks into the computer and checked them. Most of the floppies were useless, but the cd's were okay. He didn't mind about the floppies, he had already transferred most of them to cd anyway. The rest of the information was in his notes. The cd rom in the desk computer in his room, was top of the line. He searched the files and found a map of the main building.

The map gave him specific directions to the locations that he chose. The gym, the biosphere, the girls' dorm, and finally, the music room. It occurred to him that he really hadn't practiced for a while. He decided to remedy that immediately.

* * *

He entered the music room and stopped in his tracks. In one corner stood a grand piano and a very expensive looking electronic keyboard. In another part of the room were large amplifiers surrounded by every type of guitar and string instrument he had ever heard of, and even some he hadn't heard of. Finally there was karaoke a machine and a display case with a large variety of wind instruments.

_I've died and gone to heaven._ he thought.

* * *

Monet and Clarice headed for the gym. Monet was, as usual, trying to get Clarice to come out of her shell. Her current attempt was meeting with more success than most of her previous attempts.

"So what do you think he's like?" she asked.

"I don't know." Clarice whispered. "Maybe you could go into the computer and look at his file."

Monet smiled. She had gotten Clarice to make a suggestion. Something she'd been too shy to do before.

"You know what?" she asked. "I think I'll do just that. Come on." She turned down another hall to the computer room. Halfway there, she stopped, and tilted her head.

"Do you hear that?" she asked. The sound of piano music wafted up the hallway to her left. Very good piano music. "Let's go check it out."

They made their way to the music room and peeked in. A blond boy sat at the piano playing a complicated tune that Clarice immediately recognized From Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The part where Daffy and Donald were playing in the club. Monet recognized it as the Hungarian Rhapsody.

"He's very good." Monet remarked. Clarice nodded in agreement. The boy finished the piece and turned towards the opposite wall and studied the selection of guitars. He selected an electric bass and plugged it into the amplifier. He then broke into a series of guitar solos that neither of them recognized. Then he played Amazing Grace on harmonica, and a fast-paced fiddle solo.

Will was satisfied that his ability had not been hampered by the weeks without practice. He still knew how to play every instrument that he had learned to play. When he finished with the fiddle, he put it away. Almost immediately he heard applause from behind him. He was sure that he jumped at least ten feet if not higher. He whirled around and saw two girls watching him. One was a tall black girl of extraordinary beauty and the other was unusual in the fact that she had purple skin and hair, and her eyes were entirely blue, with no discernible pupils. Despite her unusual appearance she was, if not beautiful, then very pretty. He wondered how long they had been standing there.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked.

"Long enough to be impressed." the black girl said. "My name is Monet St. Croix, and this is Clarice Ferguson."

"Pleased to meet you." Clarice whispered.

"Likewise." Will smiled. "My name is Will Davidson."

"Listen," Monet said, "We're going out to play volleyball, do you want to play?"

"Sure why not."

Monet could not help stealing sidelong glances at Will. At first she'd been taken back by the patch over his left eye but now she found it intriguing. She noticed that Clarice was trying hard not to look at him. A sure sign of affection. By the time they reached the gym, the other students were already there. Will had rarely seen such a diverse group. First there was Creed who Will already knew. There was also a Hispanic boy, a tall boy with bandages around him covering his mouth and chest, an African American boy, two small children, one with pink skin and one with green skin, as well as a blond girl and a girl with bright red skin and spiky hair and sharp fingers. Then there was a tall man with white hair.

"Will," Monet said, "This is Angelo Espinoza, Jonathan Starsmore, Everett Thomas, Artie, Leech, Paige Guthrie, Penance, and Eric Lenscherr. You already know Mr. Creed."

"I certainly do. How ya doin' Creed?"

"Pretty good."

"Say," Will asked, "Aren't you and Lenscherr a little old to be students?"

Eric smiled. "Think of us as student teachers." he said.

"If I may continue?" Monet broke in. "Everybody, this is Will Davidson." When the introductions were completed, they began to organize teams for the game.

"All right," Eric said, "Creed and I will be the captains. Is this agreeable?" Everyone nodded. "Creed you may have first pick."

"Thanks." Creed said. "All right, I pick...Will." Soon the teams had been chosen. On Creed's team were Will, Clarice, Jonathan, Artie, and Paige. On Eric's team were Monet, Angelo, Everett, and Leech. To Will's relief there was no fuss about the teams not being even.

Creed served first. Eric returned the serve, but the ball disappeared soon after it cleared the net. Angelo glared at Clarice and started to say something about not using powers, he forgot that he had been planning to use his own. Before he could voice his complaint however, he was struck in the back of the head with the ball.

Clarice smiled. "Our point." she said softly.

"She's making remarkable progress. Don't you think?" Monet asked him.

"Si." Angelo grumbled.

Creed served again but this time, the ball went out of bounds. Lenscherr served the ball and Paige hit it back, for about ten minutes, they had a good volley going, but soon Leech missed the ball and it was Creed's team's turn to serve again.

"Leech is sorry." Leech said sadly.

"Don't worry about it amigo." Angelo said.

Will served the ball. Hoping to catch the other team off guard, he served so it dropped right after it went over the net. Monet jumped and slapped the ball right at the peak of it's arch. The ball flew like it had been shot out of a cannon, and hit Will in the stomach. The force of the impact threw him into the wall. Immediately, Monet flew to his side and helped him up.

"Are you O.K.?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." he answered. "That's quite an arm you got there."

"I apologize. It appears that I went a little overboard."

"Don't worry about it. Well, I can see it's not going to be boring living here."

* * *

Frost and Betsy sat in Emma's office discussing the development of the students.

"I'm very pleased with their progress." Emma said. "But there's a more important matter that I must talk to you about. I'd hoped to talk to Xavier himself but if you're going to relay the message, than I guess you'll do. Jubilee, Illyanna, and Xi'an never returned from their visit to Rahne. When I tried to contact X-Factor, I couldn't get through. I'm concerned about their safety but I can't take the time from teaching the other students, to look for them."

"I understand your concern." Betsy said. "I'll inform Professor Xavier when I return. In fact, It's about time I got going. I'll say good-bye to Will and then I'll be on my way."

"I won't take up any more of your time then."

To be continued...


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Will's alarm woke him at 7:00 am. He dressed and headed for the kitchen to make himself breakfast. In the kitchen he found a small man sitting cross-legged on the table. He seemed to be asleep. Not wanting to disturb him, Will quietly prepared hash browns, bacon and coffee. He had almost finished when Monet approached him from behind.

"Oh, he cooks too, I'm getting more and more impressed. And," she added, "I do not impress easily."

"Stop you'll give me a swelled head." he smiled. "I hope you like this stuff because there's no way I can eat all this."

"Then why did you make so much?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm used to cooking for three." he said sadly.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to...why are you whispering?"

"Well I didn't want to wake him up." he said, pointing to the man on he table.

"Gateway? He's not asleep, he's meditating." They finished their breakfast and went to the biosphere. They spent the time getting to know each other as they waited for the others. When all had arrived, Sean explained that day's training exercise to them.

"I don't know how many of you have heard of this game, but the exercise for today is called capture the flag. Has everyone played this game at least once?" everyone except Penance, nodded. "Good. Each team will be told where their flag is, and sent out. You will be given an hour to get to your flags. Due to the limited space in the biosphere," he said indicating the room behind him, "You will play in the forest around the campus." he looked at Will. "During training sessions, each student will be called by their code-names." He addressed the group "The teams will be as follows, team A: M, Synch, Penance, Magneto, Leech, Artie. Team B: Chamber, Skin, Husk, Sabertooth, Hotshot, Blink."

Hotshot couldn't help but feel excited. At the summer camp that he had gone to every summer, they played Capture the Flag all the time. He'd been an attacker every time and he loved it. He thrilled at the new challenge to play it with mutants.

* * *

Team B barely made it to their flag in time. It was quickly decided that the attackers would be; Husk, because of her ability to change shape. Sabertooth, because of his tracking ability, and Hotshot because of his experience. The three split up and began the search for the other team's flag.

* * *

The Black Queen had found him. It had not been hard to find out where they had taken him, there were only so many secluded spots for a young mutant to hide. The only problem now, was how to get him away from the others. And that was no longer a problem either, they had split up and now he was all by himself in a well hidden spot. She began to lay her trap for him.

* * *

Hotshot walked slowly and carefully down a wooded path. He had been stalking these woods for at least an hour and he'd found no trace of recent passage. He stopped and listened, and peered through the trees. Other than a few birds and squirrels, he saw and heard nothing. He decided to climb a tree to get a better view of the area. He'd begun looking for a tall enough tree, when he heard someone behind him. Before he could turn around, a hand clamped firmly over his mouth sealing it shut, and an arm wrapped around his waist pinning his arms. He felt a moment of panic and then his assailant rose into the air taking him with her.

When they were about 200 feet off the ground, M removed her hand from his mouth.

"All right," she said, "You've got two choices. I'll let you go, if you either tell me where your flag is, or if you'll go to a movie with me on Friday."

Hotshot stalled till he found what he was looking for. "All right then I'll go out with you." he said.

"Thank you, down you go." She let go. Hotshot crashed through the trees and hit the ground hard. He got up, and brushed himself off. He found that he had crashed near where Sabertooth had stopped to sniff the ground.

"How's it smell Sabertooth?" he asked.

"Like someone fell through the atmosphere. What the fuck happened to you?"

"M took me for a little ride. And while I was up there, I found their flag."

"Well then let's get goin'."

The flag was on a small rise deep in the forest, and was guarded by Magneto. Sabertooth and Hotshot had evaded the other guards without much difficulty but Hotshot was at a loss as to how they would get past Magneto. The decision was taken out of his hands. Magneto spotted them and used his power to pick them up off the ground.

"So you found our flag did you? Well it will do you little good I'm afraid. There-" Magneto cut his speech short and clutched at his head. "Ahhh!" He released his hold on them and they fell to the ground. They both recovered quickly and rushed to Magneto's side who was now writhing in pain.

"Don't panic kid," Creed said, "Happens all the time. I'll get him back to the school. You get the others." Creed picked up Eric and ran off towards the School. Will headed to where the other guards had been.

* * *

Selene fumed silently. She had just been about to capture the boy when that accursed girl had interfered. _No matter._ she thought. _I'll get him on Friday._

To be continued...


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Professor Xavier reached out with his mind, straining to find some trace of the missing Jean Grey and X-Factor. When he'd received the news of X-Factor's disappearance two days ago, he'd immediately shut himself in the war room to search for them with the help of Cerebro. When he failed to find them after a day, he sent the X-Men to the last known location of X-Factor to look for clues.

* * *

"Nuthin' over here Cyc." Wolverine said. "I've got their scents but they don't continue from here."

"Then they must have been teleported." Cyclops reasoned. Soon Beast, Bishop and Psylocke entered the clearing followed by Iceman and Gambit.

"Greetings Scott," said Beast, "I take it from the expression on your face that you have not met with success in your search."

"No Hank we haven't. Wolverine says the scent doesn't continue on from here. They must have been teleported."

A rush of wind heralded the return of Archangel and the others. Cyclops quickly related his theory to them.

"So what do we do now?" Rogue asked.

"Wait a minute," said Wolverine suddenly, "I smell 'em! They're comin' this way!" At that instant they found themselves surrounded by X-Factor and a purple clad man they didn't recognize.

"This doesn't look good boss." Iceman said. "It looks like their gonna-" They attacked.

"Warren! Storm!" Cyclops yelled "Give us air support! The rest of you just try to knock them out! We don't want to hurt them!"

"What if dey don't feel de same 'bout us?" Gambit asked. Cyclops didn't have time to answer, as he was attacked by Multiple Man and Havok. Wolverine found himself fighting Jubilee, Majik, and Karma.

"This is gonna hurt me more than it hurts y- Wuulf!" Wolverine was hurled into a tree by Jubilee's fireworks. He looked and saw Cyclops keeping Multiple man and his dupes back with his Optic Blasts but soon there would be more dupes than he could handle. Havok's Plasma bolts were having little effect on his brother.

Wolverine launched himself at his three attackers and knocked out Karma. No sooner had he done this than she disappeared. He tried to tell Cyclops, but he'd disappeared under a pile of Madrox's dupes.

Random changed his arm into an energy cannon and fired at Bishop hitting him in the chest. Bishop absorbed the energy and shot at Random with it, blowing a hole in his pelvis.

While Rogue traded punches with Strong guy, Beast and Iceman fought Forge and Wolfsbane. Gambit and Psylocke attempted to subdue Quicksilver, while in the air, Storm and Archangel battled Polaris. The man in purple hung back and observed the battle.

Cyclops was pinned down by the duplicates of Multiple man. Havok calmly walked forward and placed a strange object on his chest and Cyclops disappeared.

"Goddamnit!" Wolverine roared in fury, but was impaled by Majik's sword. He banged Majik's and Jubilee's heads together and they disappeared. Apparently they'd been put out of commission he thought. He then laid into the dupes, his claws stopped them and didn't create more of them.

Random quickly refilled the hole in his stomach and immediately he had another blown in his chest by Bishop's gun. He destroyed the gun with his energy weapon and threw himself at Bishop.

Rogue was having trouble taking on Strong Guy by herself. For all that she gave, he returned just as much if not more. She began trying to herd him towards a cliff.

Beast effortlessly dodged the shots from Forge's gun, and leaped at him from above. Forge was knocked down but not out. His gun went flying. Iceman froze the ground beneath Wolfsbane's feet causing her to slip, but she quickly recovered and tackled him. As they fell, she slipped another teleportation device on him and he disappeared. When she landed she hit her head on a rock and she too disappeared.

Gambit calculated the point where quicksilver would pass and threw his card at a point two feet ahead. Quicksilver dodged the explosion and before either Gambit or Psylocke knew what had happened, he'd slipped teleporters on them and they disappeared.

Archangel's feathers were deflected back at him by Polaris but he dodged them. Likewise Storm's lightning was deflected. Polaris attempted to attach two teleportation devices to them but Storm shorted hers out. Archangel wasn't as fortunate. He disappeared in a blast of light.

"Enough!" Storm shouted. "This battle ends now!" She summoned gale force winds and blew Polaris into a stand of trees. The subsequent light display showed that she was gone.

There was only Multiple Man left now that his dupes were gone. Every one had been killed by Wolverine and reabsorbed by Madrox. Wolverine quickly advanced and slammed Madrox's head into a tree. He disappeared without creating any dupes. Before he could do anything else, Wolverine was blasted by Havok.

Random produced a teleportation device and tried to put it on Bishop. "I don't think so." Bishop said, and grabbed his wrist, grappling with him. Random began to ooze out of his grip and so Bishop grabbed the glove that Random was wearing. Exerting all his strength he slammed the device into Random's chest, causing him to disappear leaving Bishop holding nothing.

Rogue saw a blur behind Strong Guy and correctly surmised that Quicksilver was attempting to out flank her. With all her strength she sent Strong Guy sailing off the cliff and into Quicksilver's path, knocking him off as well. They both disappeared before they landed.

Forge warded off Beast's attacks with his artificial hand and fished a device out of his pocket. Beast quickly figured out what it did and jerked back. His head impacted with a low branch and he fell onto Forge they both disappeared in flash of light.

Wolverine was being forced back by Havok's blasts. His uniform was in tatters. Havok had him on the edge of a cliff, and Wolverine began to wonder if he could survive the fall. Suddenly Storm attacked from the air subduing Havok quickly. He too disappeared. Wolverine and Storm were joined by Rogue and Bishop.

"The situation has grown serious Logan." Storm said. We have lost over half our number in this battle alone."

Suddenly Bishop shoved her aside and shouted "There's still one here!" he pointed and sure enough the man in purple had advanced from the trees. He held up one of the devices and prepared to throw it. Rogue flew at him and grabbed his arms. He shrugged her off and put the teleporter on her chest. SHLUCCT! Wolverine's claws buried deep into his chest and he disappeared, but Rogue was already gone.

"We must return to the mansion immediately." Storm said.

"No way Ororo." Wolverine said. "You saw what happened when we came too close. Well that kid Creed rescued knows everything Jean knew. He may not remember, but they don't know that. Those bastards've got to make a play for him. And when they do we're gonna be there."

To be continued...


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Xavier sat in despair. The X-men had been defeated and most them had been captured. He'd tried to summon help but X-Force, and Excalibur were both on missions. He was reluctant to go to any other hero teams for help. It was foolish pride he knew but... He decided it was time to forget his pride. Anyone that could and would do the things that these people had done was not going to stop at just defeating the X-men. He turned on the communications array and called Avengers mansion but couldn't get through. Then he tried calling the Baxter building but again he had no luck. Someone was jamming his communications equipment. As he turned away from it, the lights went out. He looked up at the ceiling, his face grim. Someone had cut the power.

* * *

Selene watched as her army of vampires methodically cut the power to all the systems in Xavier's house. Then she turned to the woman beside her. "They have finished." she said to Jean. "Capture him."

Jean Grey headed toward the mansion. Unlike Selene's other victims, Jean did not resemble a year old corpse. Mutants were stronger than humans and the process did not destroy their bodies, only their minds. Making Jean perfect for this mission. None of her human victims could get anywhere near a normal person unless they could run faster than their intended victim. One does not stand still when a dead body approaches them. No, only Jean was suitable for this mission.

_For once Arcade was right,_ she thought, _With the X-men defeated and the survivors scattered, the mansion is ripe for the picking._ Of course she was not naïve enough to think that Xavier would be an easy target. She hoped however that his affection for Jean would cloud his judgment.

* * *

Professor Charles Xavier was one of the finest intellectual minds in the world. To put it simply, he was not stupid. He knew that with the X-men gone he was a prime target for whoever was behind all this. He headed for the hanger-bay, the Blackbird was gone but there were several mini-jets ready to go. He heard a sound behind him as he prepared to leave. He turned his head cautiously even as he found the canopy control. To his astonishment, Jean Grey stood in the doorway of the hanger.

"Jean! How did you escape?" he asked.

Receiving no answer, he quickly deduced that something was wrong. He scanned her mind and was shocked by what he found. Her mind was completely empty, wiped clean by a force unknown. Jean approached him with her arms out stretched, obviously intent on capturing him. He reached inside a compartment in the cockpit and pulled a low powered energy pistol. He set the setting for stun, and let her get closer.

When she was within arms reach of him he aimed the pistol and fired, Jean's body collapsed into his arms. He pulled her into the jet and strapped her in. He fired up the jet's engines and took off. Xavier set a course for Muir Island and sat back. He felt strangely relieved, at last he was doing something and not sitting around feeling useless.

To be continued...


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"So what movie do you want to see St. Croix?" Will asked.

"I don't know," answered Monet. "I'm afraid I'm not as into the pop culture movement as some of our colleagues. And please, don't call me St. Croix. My name is Monet."

"O.K. sorry St...Monet. I'll try to remember in the future."

"Have you always been this way?"

"What way?"

"With the names. Have you always addressed people by their last names?"

"Pretty much. It started in third grade. Everybody had the same names. There were twelve Toms, five Wills including me, it was just easier to use last names. If people object, I try to use their first names."

"I see. Well back to our previous topic, what movie should we see?"

"How about Flubber?"

Monet gave him a look. Did she look like the type go see a Disney movie? "Too juvenile."

"Yeah, Disney pisses me off anyway. O.K. how about...The Rainmaker?"

"I have no objection to that."

"All right The Rainmaker it is."

They arrived at the theater with plenty of time to spare. It helped that they flew.

"That was incredible." Will said.

"Thank you." Monet said. "I rather enjoy it myself."

"Do you want to pay or should I?" he asked. "Mind you," he added, "I'm only asking because I've gotten many a girl pissed because I paid."

"I promise I won't get 'pissed'."

"Good now that that's settled-" he broke off as he heard a scream from nearby. He looked down the hill and saw a blue skinned woman being assaulted by a man in purple. Frantically Will cast about for a means of getting there quickly. There was a skater in line behind them. Will thrust some money into Monet's hand and said quickly, "Here get us two tickets." He turned to the skater; "Can I borrow your board?" The skater, who was shaken by Will's eye patch, quickly agreed.

Will propelled the skate board down the hill, picking up speed. He feared he'd be too late but the woman was putting up a fight. Suddenly she pulled something from her purse. The object flashed as it caught the light, and at first Will thought it was a knife. But as he got closer he saw that it was actually a flute.

The man knocked the flute from her hands and pinned her wrists with one hand and clamped his other hand over her mouth and began to push her into the alley.

Will reached the bottom of the hill and headed for the struggling figures. Earlier that day, the skater and his friends had set up a ramp at the bottom of the hill to practice jumping. Hitting the ramp at top speed, he flew into the air holding onto the skate board.

The skateboard came down directly on the back of the man's head. With a crunch, the skateboard broke in the center, and Will tumbled to the ground. The man released his hold on the woman and ran into the alley. Will took off after him, "You aren't getting away that easily asshole!"

Monet arrived by the woman's side just as Will disappeared into the alley.

"Are you all right?" she asked the woman.

"Yes," said the woman, "Yes I'm fine."

Will followed the man into an old building, and stopped short. The man had vanished. In his place stood a woman with long black hair, wearing black skin-tight leather and holding a whip. An image of this woman flashed through his mind and he instinctively knew that this woman was dangerous. And hot. Not a good combination. Or depending on who you ask, a very good combination. She smiled evilly and swung the whip at him. It wrapped around his waist, binding his arms to his sides. Before he could react, she jerked the whip and pulled him against her, wrapping one arm across his back, holding him fast and pressing herself tightly against him. Then with her free hand, she grabbed the back of his head and slammed her lips hard into his.

Will was filled with surprise, he'd expected an attack, not this. _What the hell is she doing?_ he thought. He struggled but he was unable to break her strong grip. Then he tried to call for help but the only sound that escaped was a barely audible mumble. Finally he realized what she was doing. Her embrace certainly kept him from escaping, and her lips against his kept him from summoning help. But most of all, this whole situation lowered his mental defenses.

_Fine._ he thought. _She wants me hot, I'll get hot._ Even as he heated up his body, he felt her mind violently invade his. As he lost consciousness, he felt the whip give way, and the woman release him. His body fell only as far as the floor, but in his mind, he fell much farther.

* * *

Monet flew down the alley, searching for Will. She thought she heard a thump from one of the buildings nearby and went to investigate. There she found Will sprawled on the floor of the front room. The sounds of someone running away reached her ears, but she ignored them and focused her attention on Will. She shook him, calling his name softly. "Will, Will are you all right?" Will didn't so much as twitch. She checked his pulse and found it steady, he was alive, but unresponsive. She gently slapped his face and called to him more urgently. "Will wake up! Please wake up!" No answer. He'd apparently had a relapse of what ever had afflicted him before he'd arrived at the school. She gathered him up in her arms and took off for the academy.

* * *

The Blackbird landed behind the main building of the academy and the remaining X-Men got out. Wolverine, Bishop and Storm ran to the door and burst in.

"Where's Will?" Storm shouted.

"He went out with Monet, why?" Everett answered, startled by their sudden entrance.

"He is in great danger." Storm explained.

"As has become apparent." said Monet behind them.

Wolverine whirled around. "I'm impressed kid, not many can sneak up on me." he said.

"It was not my intention, to sneak up on you Mr. Logan," Monet said, "I merely need to take Will to the infirmary."

"What happened?" asked Storm.

"I don't know," she answered, "He stopped a man from kidnapping a woman and chased him into the alley. I found him like this after I made sure the woman was all right."

"Just what did this man look like?" Wolverine asked. "Was he dressed in purple?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Why? Do you know him?"

"I know him all right. That whole thing with the woman was a setup just to get at him."

"Do you mean the woman was in on it?"

"Either that or she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Let's get him to the infirmary."

* * *

Selene fumed. She had underestimated the boy's mental strength. Any other teenage boy would have been helpless to contain the hormone rush that she'd sent through him. _Ah well._ she thought. _I did manage to send him into a fantasy world. Now I can manipulate his mind without him even realizing it._

* * *

Moira McTaggart left the lab to answer the call of nature. Charles had arrived that morning with a comatose and vegetative Jean Grey. All day, Moira had been trying to determine what had caused Jean to lapse into such a state.

When she returned to the lab, she was shocked to find it in shambles, and Jean Grey gone.

To be continued...


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Monet brought Will to the infirmary and laid him gently on the examining table.

* * *

Will fell, for how long he wasn't sure. At last he landed with a splash in the water below. He fought his way to the surface and gasped for breath. When he'd calmed down he took stock of his situation. He was in the middle of a large ocean. There was no sign of land anywhere. He could not remember how he got here and the rest of his memory was fading fast. He didn't know what to do, he could swim well, but there was no telling where land was, or even if there was any, and he couldn't tread water forever. He heard a splash and looked to his left. He saw a dorsal fin and panicked. Then he noticed that there was no tail fin visible behind it. It was a dolphin, or a porpoise. His favorite animals.

_At least I remember that much._ he thought. Far off, he thought he heard a creaking. Straining his eyes, he saw a speck on the horizon. "That doesn't make any sense, if what I hear is that speck, then how can I hear it? My hearing's not that good." As he watched, the speck got bigger and bigger, until finally, he could see what it was. An old style sailing ship. _From the 15 or 16 hundreds._" he thought. As the vessel got closer, he saw people out on deck. When he thought they would be able to hear him, he began to shout for help.

"Man overboard!" someone on the ship shouted. The ship veered to the left, and someone let down a ladder. As he climbed, he heard a woman say "Why he's only a boy!"

"Aye," said someone else, "What do you suppose happened to his ship?"

"Perhaps it was pirates," said the lady, "They've been seen in these waters before."

Then a child spoke up "Why's he wearing such strange clothes, Mommy?" Just then, Will reached the top of the ladder, and slumped onto the deck. For some unknown reason, he was exhausted.

* * *

Sean Cassidy paced in the front room, trying to sort out everything that had happened lately. First, Jubilee, Xi'an, and Illyanna vanish along with all the members of X-Factor. Then a new student comes along, who just happens to be their best chance at finding them. Then the X-Men are captured, and his new student falls into a coma for some unknown reason.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Sean went to answer it and found a blue skinned woman standing on the stoop.

"Hello, I'm Rachel Argosy, is this Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters?"

"Rachel..." Sean was unsure for a moment, "Oh, yes, our new music teacher. I apologize if I'm a bit slow this evening, but things are a bit hectic right now."

Monet came in to see who was at the door. "Oh! It's you!"

"What do you mean?" Sean asked.

"This is the woman Will and I helped this evening."

"You two go to this school?" Rachel asked.

"You got a lot o' explainin' to do lady." said Wolverine who'd just entered. "If you had anything to do with what happened to the kid, I wanna know what."

"I beg your pardon?" Rachel asked.

"Shortly after he rescued you, Will fell into a coma. We have reason to believe that your predicament was a trap set for him." Monet said.

"I assure you, I was not a participating in any scam."

Emma Frost entered the room. "She's telling the truth Logan."

"Oh well, now that we've had you confirm it, everything's all right. I don't trust you any further than Leech can throw Sabertooth. I don't trust him either."

"You don't trust Leech?" Emma asked, arching her eyebrow.

"Don't get smart with me bitch."

"Well I believe her." said Monet stopping the confrontation.

"Please, can I see him?" asked Rachel.

"Of course lass." Sean said. "Right this way."

* * *

Will woke in a cabin below decks, feeling completely rested and refreshed. He went on deck and was greeted by the captain.

"Ah good, you're up. I'd begun to think we might need to get a doctor."

"I don't know how to thank you for picking me up captain. Or for letting me use one of your cabins."

"Oh think nothing of it. One of the passengers volunteered her cabin." he dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I think she's taken to you quite strongly." He raised to a normal speaking voice then. "Ah, here comes your benefactor now."

A young blond woman came out on deck. Will guessed her to be seventeen or eighteen. She seemed strangely familiar, but Will could not think of where he'd seen her before.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" he said.

She turned. "Oh hi! I'm glad you're up, I'd been hoping to get to know you." she said, and winked at him.

Will was taken aback. The girl before him was dressed as the genteel ladies were dressed back in the 1500's but she had the forward manners of a girl from his high school... That was it! That's where he knew her from! He'd known her in high school! But what school? Who was she? And what was a "high school"? He put aside those questions for the moment and concentrated on the conversation.

The girl stuck out her hand. "My name's Sarah. What's yours?"

Will took her hand and shook it. She squeezed his hand tightly. "Pleased to meet you ma'am. I'm Will."

"Oh please Will, call me Sarah. 'Ma'am' makes me feel old."

* * *

Selene sat in a darkened room and slowed her breathing. Even for her, it would be an enormous effort to enter the mind of one so far away. She smiled, now nothing would stop her, she would find out what he knew, and make him her slave. Slowly, so no one would notice, she entered his mind.

* * *

"Ship ahoy!" the lookout called. Will and Sarah hurried to the rail and looked out over the waves to see the ship. Suddenly, Will felt uneasy.

"There's something not right about that ship." he said. "Captain may I see your telescope?"

"Of course." said the captain, and handed it to him. Will peered through the telescope at the other ship. At first there was nothing unusual about it. Then he saw the flag, and his blood ran cold. Which for some reason he found ironic. A skull and crossbones, pirates.

"Oh shit." Will swore. "Captain I suggest you get us out of here."

"Why?" the captain asked suspiciously. Suddenly, a column of water erupted next to the ship, as they heard the thunder of cannon fire.

"That's why!" Will shouted. "They're pirates!"

"Red Alert!" shouted the captain. "All hands to battle stations!"

_Red Alert?_ Will thought. _Where've I heard that before?_ He racked his brain but couldn't think of it.

"Miss Sarah?" the captain said. "I have to ask you to go back to your cabin. Will, you too."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Will asked.

"Yes, you can go back to your cabin! Now go!"

In the cabin, Will paced back and forth.

"Will, must you be so restless?" Sarah asked. "There's nothing you can do." She patted a spot next to her on the bed. "Come sit by me. At least let's make the most of these moments we have alone." When he didn't move, she reached up, grasped his arm and gently but firmly pulled onto the bed. She put her hands on his shoulders and began to massage them. He finally began to relax, but he was still uneasy.

"At a time like this, I don't understand-" She cut him off by wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and kissing him hard on the mouth. Giving in, he slipped his arms around her waist and kissed her back. He suddenly remembered doing this with her before. But when? And where? Dammit, why couldn't he remember? _Oh well,_ he thought, _Who cares? I'm doing it here and now._ He did not know how long they stayed like that. But suddenly they were brought out of it by the captain shouting.

"All hands! Repel boarders!"

Will broke off the kiss, saying "That's it. I'm going up there."

"Will!" Will turned ready to defend his decision. But instead of trying to talk him out of it, Sarah gave him a quick, hard kiss on the mouth, and then pressed her lips against his ear. "Be careful." she whispered. He smiled and headed up the hall.

When he got to the door leading to the deck, he heard a deep gravely voice, say, "I'll go get the passenger's valuables!" Will listened to the man's footsteps as they approached the door. When he judged the man was close enough, he slammed the door open. He heard a crunch, then a thud. He opened the door wider and saw the pirate lying on the deck with blood pouring from his nose. Will picked up his sword and pistol and went off to defend the ship.

* * *

Xavier landed the mini-jet in front of the school and headed for the front door. It was opened from within by Victor.

"Yer late Chuck." he said. "The others got here an hour ago."

"I had to stop at Muir Island before coming here Creed." Xavier said. "I trust all is going well with your rehabilitation?"

"Oh yeah it's goin' great. But I am a little confused as to why you sent me up here. Irish n' Frost ain't doin' nothin' that you couldn't do."

"I sent you up here because you needed the interaction with other students to complete your rehabilitation. The X-Men were too prejudiced against you. These children, however, have not had the negative exposure to you that the X-Men had. In fact, they are more kindly disposed to you because their first encounter with you, was you saving them from the Phalanx."

Not long after Victor had come to the School, an entity called the Phalanx abducted the X-Men. Victor had helped Sean rescue Emma and Jubilee, and escape. Later he escaped from Sean, but followed him to where the Phalanx was keeping the other young mutants it had captured. Victor risked his life to save them.

Professor Xavier fell suddenly silent as Magneto entered the room.

"Hello Eric." Xavier said softly.

"Charles. I'm glad you have come. The situation has grown quite grave." Magneto said.

"Yes I know. How are you feeling?"

"Fine. I recently had an attack, but I have recovered. Each one is less and less severe."

"I'm glad. Was it the same cause?"

"Yes. I began to contemplate what wonderful fighters Creed and Will would be to my old cause, and the pain struck." A look of deep sorrow and remorse came to Xavier's face. "Charles you must stop blaming yourself. The pain I experience is self inflicted. You know that."

"Is it? Sometimes I'm not so sure."

To be continued...


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Remember," the pirate captain told her first mate, "I want the boy alive."

"It will be done mistress."

* * *

Will raced across the deck, heading for the battle. He counted at least twenty pirates, against a crew of five.

_Five?_ he thought. _What kind of sailing ship only has five crew members?_ He shrugged, and decided that he'd better get the element of surprise. He went to the stern of the ship and began to climb the rigging. Then he looked above and saw that two of the pirates had had the same idea. He took aim with the pistol and fired. The bullet struck one of the men in the back, and he fell screaming from the rigging. Will kept climbing and caught the pirate just as he reached the crows nest.

The pirate turned and snarled. Will hit him in the face with the pistol. The pirate reeled from the blow, and Will caught him with a round-house kick that sent him to the deck below. The lookout who had been hiding peeked over the edge and said in a shaky voice "Thanks mate."

"Don't mention it." Will hacked at a length of rope and grasped it in his hand. He tested it's strength and jumped from the mast. The wind whipped his hair as he plummeted towards the deck. Then the rope caught him and he swung towards the battle. His momentum sent him sailing into one of the pirates and he heard ribs crack as his opponent toppled over the railing to the water.

He felt a blow to his neck and turned on his assailant. The pirate stared in amazement when his club had no effect on Will. Will was also amazed, never the less he ran the pirate through with his blade and then turned and parried an attack from another pirate. He swung and the pirate parried then slashed at Will who twisted away. Then both attacked at the same time and their blades locked. They strained against each other, neither able to gain the upper hand. Then Will stepped in close and brought up his knee and slammed it into the pirate's crotch. The pirate crumpled to the ground and moaned. Will hit him on the head with his sword hilt.

* * *

The pirate first mate crept up behind the boy. The captain wanted him alive so he would do as she asked. The problem was how to subdue the boy. He'd already seen that a blow to the head would not work, so he would have to be drugged. The first mate took the drug from his pocket, and poured it over his sword.

"Boy!" he shouted. The boy turned from his latest victim. "Your very good boy. Let's see how good you are."

"Anytime. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum, fifteen men on a dead man's chest, and several other pirate cliché's." the boy answered and attacked. The mate matched the boy blow for blow but was unable to gain any ground. In fact, to his astonishment the boy was driving him back. He was using a fighting style the mate had seen but never had to contend against it. He'd seen a demonstration of this fighting style once in Japan. But how could this boy have learned it? Finally, he was able to scratch the boy on the arm and knew that he'd won.

Will started to feel the drug's effects as soon as the cut had been administered. He fought it but his vision began to dim. He dropped to his knees and an insane thought flashed through his mind. _This never happens in the movies._ Before he could ponder what a movie was, he blacked out.

He woke that night and found that he could not move. He looked down and saw that he was tied to the mast of a ship. A strange light shone from off to his right and he turned his to see what it was. To his horror, the ship he'd tried to defend was burning.

"A beautiful sight is it not?" said a seductive voice behind him. He strained to see who it was behind him, to curse them and spit on them, but he could not turn that far. The owner of the voice stepped in front of him. She was a darkly beautiful woman who seemed familiar to him. A chill ran down his spine. Where ever he knew her from, it wasn't good. With a sudden revelation, he realized that she was responsible for his memory loss and for him ending up in the middle of the ocean. His eyes narrowed.

"Oh now don't look at me like that." she teased. "You fought well on your ship. I could use you as part of my crew. Of course you're too young to be an integral member, but I've been looking for a..." she studied his body blatantly, "Cabin Boy."

Indecision tore at him. These were the people who had just murdered his friends. _But on the other hand,_ he thought, _If I was part of the crew, I could destroy them from within. Especially if I gain the captain's trust._ Hating himself despite his plans he nodded.

"Excellent!" she smiled. "Lets seal the bargain, shall we?" She reached around the mast with both arms to untie the ropes. Because the mast was rather large in circumference, she was soon pressed quite tightly against him. There was no doubt that she'd done it on purpose.

_The captain's a grade A slut._ he thought with disgust. _I'll bet she's slept with everybody on the ship._

Just before she loosened the ropes, she kissed him full on the mouth. Then the ropes holding him fell away, but she didn't back up. She held him against the mast with her own body. She pressed her lips against his ear and whispered "You will stay in my cabin. You will clean up after me and bring me my meals. You will provide maintenance to my weapons and clothes. And last but not least..." she paused and rubbed herself against him, "You will bathe me."

_I think I'm gonna hurl._ he thought.

* * *

Emma Frost burst into the foyer of the Academy's main building. "There is another presence in his mind!" she cried furiously.

"What?" Xavier cried incredulously.

"What's more, I recognize it. It's Selene the former Black Queen of the Hellfire Club."

"So she's behind all this." Magneto said.

"We now know why he's in a coma." said Charles. "Emma can you go in and bring him out?"

"Of course," she said confused, "But why can you not-"

"I can no longer trust myself in another's mind. I've caused too much pain already."

"Charles!" Magneto started, but Xavier silenced him.

"Please Eric, not now." He looked at Emma and she nodded and left the room.

To be continued...


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

When Will awoke the next morning he felt refreshed and ready to start plotting his revenge. He went to the galley and got the captain's breakfast and something for himself to eat. When he got back to the cabin, the captain was studying an old map that was yellowed with age. He set the tray on the bed and glanced at the map. It was a sea chart and a map of an island. On the island was a large X.

"Going searching for treasure." he said. It was not a question.

"Yes boy, the greatest treasure of all." she looked at him and smiled. "Your memory."

* * *

Emma prepared the students for the dangers ahead. "If, while you are in his mind you are killed, it could cause severe psychological damage. That is of course a worst case scenario. It won't kill you because I'm not taking your whole mind into his."

"If we weren't willing to take the risk professora, we wouldn't be here." said Angelo. Monet, Clarice, Everett, Jonathan, Sean, Victor, and Angelo, were in the infirmary preparing to help Emma free Will's mind from Selene.

"Very well, everyone join hands." She closed her eyes and took Sean's hand, and placed her other hand on Will's forehead. Concentrating, she formed a link with their minds, and entered Will's mind with them.

* * *

Will sat on the seat of the dinghy, straining with the oars. "How can a boat carrying only two people, weigh so much?" he wondered. They'd reached the Island the day before, and they had begun ferrying over the crew at first light. The captain had left one man behind to guard the ship. Will knew that she did not intend to return to the ship. If she had, she would have left more people to guard it.

"They don't know do they?" he asked.

"What?" she asked looking at him.

"Your crew, they don't know what we're searching for do they? They think it's gold or silver don't they?"

"They're fools." she answered. "They have no idea of the true value of what they're searching for."

"That's what I don't get. Why is my memory so important to you? And for that matter, how can my memory be in a box buried in the sand?"

"You'll understand soon."

_Yeah,_ he thought, _As soon as we get to that island, I'll slip away and kill you one by one._ But as soon as the boat landed, her hand closed like a vise on his arm. Foiling his plans for escape. As the pirates headed into the forest. Will got the feeling that they were being watched. Apparently, the pirates felt it too.

"Mistress, there be spirits hauntin' this island." said one of them.

"Shut up fool." she snapped.

"You should listen more." Will said. He'd spotted a furtive figure in the brush. But it had all but disappeared. Then he had seen two human figures flying over head. Suddenly, the air was ripped by an ear splitting wail. The pirates cringed as a man flew into their midst shrieking. The captain cursed as one of the pirates was hit by a psionic blast from somewhere in the bushes. Will smiled. Now was his chance. As he tensed for his escape, a huge man leaped from the trees into the horrified group of pirates. A girl flew in and began to fight the first mate. Three more jumped into the fray. Will saw a blond woman watching from a distance. He noticed that the captain was staring hard at her.

Will's elbow shot back into the captain's stomach, forcing her to release her hold. Then he turned and hit her in the jaw with a right hook and ran for the trees. The captain brought up her whip and snagged his arm. She pulled and he was yanked around till he was facing her. She released his arm and swung the whip again. This time the whip wrapped tightly around his neck. She yanked him onto his stomach and before he could get up she planted a foot in the small of his back. Then she grabbed a hand full of his hair and took a dagger out of her boot. She held the blade against his neck and called to the attackers, who had all but wiped out the pirates. The last one was running screaming into the woods.

"Don't take another step in this direction or the boy dies!" The attackers froze, but the woman approached slowly.

"Let him go Selene." the woman said.

"Oh I don't think so Emma." Selene said. "He's far to valuable to me. Now you can either withdraw from his mind, and let me have him, so I can find out what he knows and keep him from talking, or I can kill him and then he won't be able to tell anyone anything. It's your choice. Either way, I win."

"All right," Emma said, "Just don't hurt him."

Clarice felt rage mounting in her. This woman was threatening to kill someone with whom she had wanted to be friends, and was probably responsible for the disappearance of her friend Jubilee as well. Slowly she clenched her fist and concentrated.

The knife at his throat was suddenly in several pieces. Emma advanced and Selene vanished swearing. Will got slowly to his feet.

"Thank you for helping me." he said, "But who are you?"

"That will all be explained when we recover your memory." She looked at him strangely.

"What?" Will asked.

"You don't have an eye patch." Emma said.

"Should I have one?" Will asked.

"Never mind." She turned to the others. "You have all been a great help but this is something Will and I must do alone." The others slowly faded from sight.

"I take it you're going to help me?" Will asked.

"Yes, but I don't know where to find your memory." she answered.

"I still don't understand how my memory could be something tangible that I could find."

"Neither do I, but then I didn't create this fantasy. You did."

"What do you mean?" he asked. "You're saying that all this is just some fantasy world I created?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Right now, you're in a coma. I've entered your mind to help you get out."

"All right, assuming what you're saying is true, how do I get out?"

"You can't, not till you get your memory back. You can't get out till you remember how you got here in the first place."

"Well then," he said, reaching into his pocket, "It's a good thing I swiped this map." He pulled the treasure map out of his pocket.

_Amazing,_ Emma thought, _His fantasy is so complete. I wonder why his mind picked a pirate scenario? Ah well, I'm a telepath not a psychologist._ Out loud she said "Well then, shall we go?"

"Let's shall."

It did not take them long to reach the spot on the map marked with an X. It helped that there was a large X on the ground.

"Dis mus' be de place." Will said.

"I don't believe this." Emma said.

"Neither do I. My opinion of myself is really dropping. I mean how clich can you get?"

"Look at it this way," Emma said smiling, "You just want to get out so bad you're willing to do something ridiculous to help yourself."

"I even remembered to supply shovels." he said, indicating two shovels. He picked one up and began to dig.

* * *

Will shoved the box out of the hole and climbed up after it. He tried to smash the lock but it wouldn't budge.

"Here," said Emma, "Let me try." She stared at the lock and it shattered. The lid of the box burst open and light flooded from the box. Will stared into the light and knew what he must do. Without a backward glance, he leapt into the box. The light blinded him, as he was thrust out of the warm safety and into the cold world outside. With his first breath he cried.

"I'm reliving my birth." he realized and then the memory faded.

The next memory was when he was seven years old. And now, he was watching, as if he was someone else. And Ms. Frost was standing next to him. He remembered her name now. He remembered everything. But for some reason he was reliving certain moments in his life.

"Perhaps these are moments that you've not yet come to terms with." Frost said. "Maybe now, your mind has decided to finally take the time to sort them out."

"Could be." he said. "And please don't read my mind like that again."

"I didn't read your mind. I'm inside it. Your thoughts are as obvious to me as they are to you."

"Where were you during the last memory? And why would I need to come to terms with my own birth?"

"First of all, I didn't want to intrude upon your birth. And second, birth is always traumatic, for both the babies and the mother."

Will shut up and watched the scene unfolding before him. He was at a park, in the mountains of Vermont, he saw nearby a family having a picnic. There were two children sitting on the blanket. One was him when he was seven years old. The other, was also seven, but a girl. "That's my twin sister. Seven years old, my god." his voice was nearly choked of with grief. "This is the day she died." As he watched in horror, his sister walked to the bathroom, but didn't make it. As she walked through the tall grass, she began swatting at something. Then she slapped at her arm and then fell.

"She was mute." Will said, tears welling up in her eyes. "She was also allergic to bees. We found her an hour later. The grass was so tall that we couldn't see her. She was dead when we found her." This memory faded away to be replaced by another.

In the interval between memories, Frost looked at Will. "You blame yourself don't you." it was not a question.

"At first I did." Will said. "But after a while, I realized that there was nothing I could have done." Now he was thirteen. He had just climbed to the top of a very tall tree. He stood to get a better view of the land around him and the branch he was standing on broke. He fell to the ground and hit several branches on the way down. A fall that should have broken his leg, had left him unscathed. This then, was the day he'd found out he was a mutant. Soon this moment too faded to another.

Two months ago, at school. He was talking to his girlfriend, Sarah the girl from his fantasy. She made several hints about what she wanted to do after the prom on Saturday. As she went away Will looked at the lock for his locker that he'd been holding. It was now a molten lump of slag. Standing next to himself, Will looked down the hall and saw a boy watching him.  
"Well now I know how they found out I was a mutant." he said. Almost as if what he'd said triggered the memory, he found himself reliving the night of his parents murder. Soon he was watching the battle with the street punks. Then in shock, he watched as, in slow motion, he totally eradicated them.

Then, as suddenly as they started, the memories stopped. In front of him he saw a long staircase extending up into darkness.

"I guess this is how I get out." he said and, putting aside his grief, started up with Frost beside him. Soon though, he was unable to ascend the stairs without help.

"I...I don't...get it." he gasped. "Why am I...having so much trouble, going up?"

"I don't know," Frost said as she helped him up another step. "I guess the battles you fought in your mind were harder on you than you thought. I only hope I have enough strength to get you the rest of the way up." But she did not. As they neared the end of the stairs, Emma began to fade away.

"To weak to go on." she said. Before she could say anymore, she was gone. Will felt his grip slipping.

* * *

"Xavier, you must help him!" Emma was as close to hysteria that as Sean had ever seen her. Which wasn't saying much, but she was yelling.

"I can't." Xavier said, he was closer to tears than anyone had ever seen him. "If I cause any damage to him, I could never forgive myself."

"And if you do nothing we may lose him forever! If I wait till my strength is up he could drift so far into his subconscious that we'd never find him again. It has to be now, when he's still close to the surface. You're the only one who has the strength to do it."

* * *

Will fell again. The stairs had vanished and he knew that if he fell all the way, there would be no going back. He looked desperately for something to break his fall, but he saw nothing. Then he heard a voice above him.

"Will grab my hand!" Will looked up and grabbed Professor Xavier's hand. Straining, Xavier pulled Will up and out.

As he was lifted, Will broke through a barrier he had not seen. As the memory of what Jean had told him washed over him, he was filled with a determination to put an end to the trouble his enemies had caused.

Will awoke with a start. "Arcade!" he said, "Arcade and the Black Queen are behind it. They stage mass kidnappings. Arcade brainwashes all the mutants they get, and Selene feeds off the humans."

"I take it this means you've regained your full memory?" Monet asked smiling.

"Everything she knew, I know." he answered.

"Including where they are?" asked Storm.

"Yes," said Will. "But I can't tell you."

"What-" Creed started.

"But I can show you." Will said quickly.

To be continued...


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 **

Rachel woke from a nightmare in which she was once again in prison. The dream was so real that for a moment she was unaware that it had been a dream. Then, as she realized where she was, she became aware of music drifting from the hall way. She dressed herself in a robe and followed the sound to the music room. She'd had an opportunity to view this room earlier and she was most impressed at the array of instruments. She found herself now, being even more impressed at the skill of the boy who now sat at the piano. She'd never actually met this boy, who would become her student. Her encounter with him had been brief and he'd still been in a coma when she had, exhausted by her ordeal in the city, fallen sleep on the couch. Later that night she'd awakened, and gone to bed.

The melody that he was playing, was familiar but she couldn't place it.

"Excuse me," she said softly, the boy turned and saw her.

"You're the woman from-"

"Rachel, Rachel Argosy. Your music teacher." she smiled. "Though as I can see, there's not much left for you to learn. That was a beautiful piece you were just playing, what was it?"

"It's called 'Somewhere In My Memory', it's from the movie 'Home Alone'."

"Ah, I thought I'd heard it somewhere." She noticed the downcast look in his eyes. "Is something wrong?" He hesitated, and she tried a new tactic. "Do you mind if I play something?" she asked. He nodded and slid over on the bench. She sat down and began to play another soft melody from her memory.

Will recognized it immediately. "That's from 'Hook'." he said. She nodded. Suddenly, Will found himself on a cliff, in a clearing in the forest. He also found that he was no longer reluctant to confide in Rachel.

"What did you do?"

"It's my mutant power," she answered. "I can use music to induce a hallucinogenic state in anyone who hears it. Of course not all of it's affects are false. It also lets the listener feel at ease with me and can do what they want. With a little prompting from me of course."

"Sounds like brainwashing to me."

"If you want to stop we will. But I really want to know what's bothering you. If I'm going to teach you, you have to trust me. And I also want to be your friend. You did rescue me after all."

"Did you pick the scene?"

"No, you did. I've never been here before, where are we?"

"This a clearing on a mountain, about three hour's drive from my home town. This is where I came to think, camp, or just be alone."

"You really miss Vermont don't you?"

"Yeah, mostly the mountains. Out here, at night when you look into the sky, you can see every star in the sky. There's no light to dull them, or smog to obscure them." As he spoke, the scene around them changed. The sky darkened and soon it was night.

"You see what I mean?" he asked happily. "The sky's so clear, you can even see the milky way. There are two things in this world so beautiful, that nothing can compare with them. An unspoiled sunset, and this." Soon, the sky lightened and they could see the spectacular view from the mountain top.

"All right," Will amended, "Three things. You see down there?" he asked, pointing to a tiny building in the valley below. "That's my Grandparents' tree farm. My parents and I come here every time we can." his voice broke with sorrow. "Or at least, we used to."

"You miss them a lot don't you?"

"I used to think that they gave me all the lessons, and the toys, and everything else, in hopes that I'd forgive them for letting Rebecca die."

"Rebecca?"

"My sister. I'd forgiven them a long time ago. I don't know if they knew or not. But maybe, they were just trying to make up for moving to the city. Or maybe, maybe they were just trying to make sure they didn't lose the one child they had left. But it doesn't really matter why they did it. I just wish I hadn't taken it for granted." Tears escaped from his eyes and ran down his cheeks. Rachel put a hand on his shoulder and he began to cry. Rachel pulled him to her and embraced him. He sobbed into her shoulder for what seemed to him to be a long time. When he had calmed down she released him.

"Thanks." he said. "I needed that."

"I kind of figured that you did. Is there anything else you need to get off your chest, or are you okay?"

"There's just one other thing, when I killed the people who killed my parents, I destroyed everything I believed in. When I found out I was a mutant, I swore to myself that I wouldn't be the menace everyone perceived every mutant to be. But when I killed those people, it was like I was proving them right. And I know I should feel bad about it, but I don't."

"You didn't prove them right, because they had attacked you first, and had killed innocent humans. Maybe you do feel bad about what you did but just don't know it. But when you killed them, you weren't killing innocents, you were killing killers." At that, she stopped playing. They were back in the music room.

"Now," she said, "I think you should get to bed. You've got a big day tomorrow."

Will smiled. "Goodnight Argosy, and thanks." He started to leave.

"Will." she called.

"What?"

"Please, call me Miss Argosy."

"You got it, Miss Argosy."

* * *

Selene burst into the control room in a rage.

"I've lost him!" she snarled. "Just as I was about to silence him, I lost him!"

"Selene," said Arcade, "Calm down. You're foaming at the mouth. Oh by the way I finished brainwashing the X-men. I swear, watching the information in their heads, is better than pay per view. Speaking of which, they've canceled our HBO. I thought it was your turn to pay the bill."

"Oh shut up Arcade." Selene said quietly. "I can see that this is going to require the direct approach."

"Putting him into a coma is subtle?"

"I said shut up. Show me the quickest route from the Massachusetts academy to here."

Arcade tapped a few keys and a map appeared on the screen. Selene studied it for a moment and smiled.

* * *

The camper sped down the mountain road, carefully avoiding speed traps. Will sat behind the wheel and began looking for a good radio station. He settled on one that played modern music and checked the radar detector.

Monet, sitting in the passenger seat, recognized one of the guitar solos, Will had been playing days before. "What band is this?" she asked.

"Offspring, Genocide, why?"

"I heard you playing it on guitar earlier. You know it's ironic, a mutant listening to a song called Genocide."

Will smiled. "Yeah, I guess it is, anyway I just like the guitar solo."

"Where are the others?" Monet asked after a moment.

"Well, Logan's on his Harley a couple of miles ahead, Cassidy, Frost and Bishop are in the pickup behind us and Munroe and Creed are in a car somewhere behind us."

"Is it wise to have us so close together?"

"No, but we haven't encountered any traffic to separate us. As far as anyone knows, Logan's a biker, We're a bunch of teenagers on a road trip, Cassidy and Miss frost are a married couple, and so are Munroe and Creed. Bishop's just a hitchhiker."

"Hey amigo." said a voice from behind him.

"What's up Espinoza?" Will asked.

"Can we stop for lunch soon? We're getting hungry."

"Sure thing." he picked up the CB radio. "Hey Cassidy, you read me?"

"Aye lad." came Sean's voice from the radio. "Loud and clear, what's up?"

"Me and the gang are getting a little antsy, we're gonna make a pit stop. We'll meet you at the hotel. Okay?"

"Not a problem lad, I'll have Emma alert the others. Over."

"Roger, over and out." Will smiled. "God I love that radio talk."

They soon reached a roadside diner and gas station. Will pulled into a parking space and shut off the engine. "Okay," he said getting out of the camper. "Monet, could you get us a table? I'm gonna get some gas."

"After eating the food here? I'm not surprised." Monet replied.

_Hey you made a joke, I'm proud of yer._ Jonathan said.

"I wasn't joking." she replied. "The food at truckstops is notorious."

"How many roadside diners have you eaten at?" Everett asked.

"Well, none actually."

"Well don't knock it till you've tried it chica." Angelo said as they entered the diner.

They sat at a booth and took the menus that were there. When the waitress came to take their order, she gave Clarice a surprised look but otherwise seemed indifferent. She took their orders and then Monet sent Clarice out to see what Will wanted.

"We should get some apples for Penance." Paige said.

* * *

Will saw the biker gang pulling up, but he didn't think much of it. He didn't see the words that were sewn on the back of their jackets: DIE MUTIE DIE. He also did not see Clarice till it was too late. In a moment, he became aware of both when he heard Clarice scream. He looked up from the gas tank where he was replacing the lid. Clarice was draped, unconscious on the seat of one of the motorcycles which were now racing away.

The rest of Generation X ran from the restaurant with Espinoza at the front. He stretched out the skin on his fingers and snagged two of the cyclists in the rear. He yanked them off their bikes and raced up and saw that they were already unconscious. Will ran up next to him and said "Skin, can you ride one these things?"

"No problem amigo." Skin said noting that they were in mission mode already.

"Good. Unless anyone has any better ideas, then me and Skin will go after them on the bikes, with M and Synch giving us air support. Chamber, you get our orders to go, and follow us in the camper. Any questions?"

_Yeah mate,_ Chamber said, _What do you want to eat?_

"Double cheeseburger, and a large Pepsi. Lets go."

* * *

The roar of motorcycles echoed from the surrounding mountains. The Friends of Humanity Biker Chapter, rode towards the cabin they had stayed at the night before, laughing at their good fortune.

"We gonna have ourselves a good time tonight boys!" the leader shouted over the radio, leering at the young, attractive mutant lying prone in his lap. "First we gonna rape this freak o' nature, then we gonna have ourselves a regular mutie roast!" He began to laugh again, when a voice came in on his radio

"If the UFO hotline limits you to one call per day, you might be a redneck." the voice mocked. He looked behind him and saw a frightening sight. Two teenagers on motorcycles were chasing them, and two more were flying. The leader's fright gave way to hatred and he shouted to his followers

"Looks like the mutie's got some friends back there boys! Go nuts!" Having received permission to attack the mutants behind them, the rest of the gang turned and headed for their pursuers.

Hotshot saw one of the bikers pull out a gun and point it at him. He suffered a moment of panic as the man fired. But the bullet spanged off his eye patch. Hotshot headed for the first of the attacking bikers. He swerved just as he was about to ram him, and clotheslined him. The biker flew from the bike and was run over by the biker behind him. Both bikes crashed and Skin deftly evaded the wreckage. Hotshot called out to the others. "You guys think you can handle this trash?"

"Of course." M answered. "But what are you going to do?"

"The leader's getting away, I'm going after him." Without waiting for a response, he turned his bike towards the side of the road, and headed up the wooded hill.

"Well I guess that ends that conversation." Synch said. "Do you think he can handle the guy all by himself?"

"I hope so." M replied. "Blink's life hangs in the balance."  
Skin was amazed at Hotshot's skill on a bike. He'd obviously grown up in the 'hood, but he must have gotten a lot of experience in mountain biking.

There were ten bikers in total, with two and the leader gone, there were only seven left to challenge the young mutants. Skin took out two more. He wrapped the skin of his fingers around the helmet of one, and turned it backwards so he couldn't see. Then he pulled the handlebars and caused the biker to swerve into another. M kicked the front tire of another one, bursting it. The bike stopped suddenly and the rider flew off. Synch flew into the side of the closest biker knocking him into the street. The four remaining bikers turned away from the mutants and fled.

"Well, that was a good work out." Synch said. Just then, the camper pulled up next to them and Chamber got out.

_Anybody hungry?_ he asked.

"Where's Blink and Hotshot?" Husk asked from the camper.

* * *

It had been awhile since Hotshot had last been mountain biking, and he'd never done it on a motorcycle, a dirt bike yes, but a motorcycle was a lot bigger than a dirt bike.

_It's a good thing I can't be harmed by blunt objects._ he thought. _If I fall off, I won't get hurt._ He was riding some way up the mountain, along side the road. When he thought he was far enough ahead of the leader, he dug out a length of chain from the bag on the side of the bike. He found a place where the cliff curved away from the road. He tied one end to a tree next to the cliff and welded it. He tested the chain, and then he took the other end of the chain and went as far from the edge as the chain would let him. He'd no sooner gotten there then he heard the leader's cycle approach the cliff.

He counted to ten and put the bike on full throttle to the left of where he'd stuck the chain. The bike flew off the edge of the cliff with Hotshot on it. He rode till he reached the limit of the chain then let the bike fall. He wrapped the chain around his legs and welded it as he fell. He plummeted to the ground but the chain stopped him five feet in the air. The jolt of the chain catching him was incredible but his mutant invulnerability saved him. He swung on the chain, his momentum carrying him to the motorcycle. When he reached it, he hit the leader with one arm and grabbed Blink with the other. The leader fell backward off his bike while Hotshot swung with Blink away from the bike. He reached with his free arm and grasped the chain, and pulled himself into a standing position. Then he twisted around to shield Blink from the impact with the mountain. They struck the side with enough force to crush a normal person's bones, but once again, he was unharmed. Soon after, the camper came into view, and M freed him from the chain, and took him and Blink back to the camper where, after eating his lunch, Will went to sleep exhausted.

To be continued...


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 **

"The next time something like this happens, I want to be informed immediately." Emma said sternly. She finished examining Clarice. "Fortunately, none of you were hurt, but next time you might not be so lucky without us to help you."

"Sorry Miss Frost, I just got caught up in the moment." Will said.

"It's all right. Just tell me next time. And Clarice, from now on, I want you wearing an image inducer. Now everyone go to your rooms and get some sleep. We've got a long day ahead tomorrow." In the morning they would make their attack on Arcade's headquarters.

* * *

Will sat in bed and flipped channels until he found a news channel showing live coverage of a speech being made in DC "Well well, if it isn't Mr. Nazi, KKK, throwback prick of '96, Graydon Creed." he said. He turned up the volume.

"...and it is the duty, of all human beings to dispose of all of these so called 'Geecees'..."

"Hey," said Everett. "That's Freak, and it's Mr. Freak to you pal."

"...or they will destroy us all!"

"Can you say paranoid? Damn, compared to him, Rush Limbaugh looks good." Will said.

"Turn that shit off." Angelo said. "He's pissing me off." Will flipped off the TV

"Speaking of shit, I'm gonna go take one." he said.

"Thanks for sharing." Everett said.

Will stepped into the bathroom and froze. He stared at the toilet for a moment, and turned hurried out. "On second thought, I think I'll wait." he said with a slight tremble in his voice.

"Dude, when nature calls, you can't put her on hold." Everett said. Then he noticed the look on Will's face. "Hey what's wrong?"

"Have you ever heard of Arachnophobia?"

"You're afraid of spiders? So what, there's a spider in there?"

"It's on the toilet." Will said, embarrassed.

"Hey there's nothing to be ashamed of, I can't stand snakes." Everett said, and went into the bathroom. Will looked at Angelo, waiting for some reaction. But he was sound asleep. A minute later, Everett returned from the bathroom.

"All clear." he said.

"Thanks man." Will said and went in.

* * *

That night, Will awoke and got a drink of water. He took a sip, and deciding it was to warm, went into the hallway to get some ice. As he approached the ice machine he saw that someone else was already there, another guest at the hotel. As the other left, Will heard the chime on the elevator ring and the door opened. Will stopped to see who would get out, and what he saw froze his blood. Slowly, a man stepped from the elevator. A desiccated man. It's skin was shriveled, like a mummy who had had the wrappings removed. The glass dropped from Will's hand, and he turned to run. The creature grabbed the other man, and began to drain his life force. The drained human now looked just like the zombie.

As he pivoted on his toe, he saw another behind him. He thrust out with his power, and destroyed the one blocking his path, but another took it's place.

* * *

Emma awoke with a start, and wondered what had woken her, then she remembered. A scream of pure unbridled terror in her head, it was Will.

_Sean,_ she called mentally. _Will's in trouble._ She didn't wait to get a response, she woke Ororo.

* * *

Hotshot raced down the maze of hallways desperately thrusting out with his power whenever he saw one the creatures. He finally reached the stairs and he jumped down an entire flight. His knees buckled, and he crashed into the wall and fell down the next flight. He opened the door, and ran onto the balcony overlooking the lobby. He raced for the railing, and turned when he heard a sound. One the creatures, leaped from the shadows and grabbed his shoulders. Hotshot threw himself backward, and fell screaming off the balcony. In mid-fall, a laser shot from below and blasted the creature off Hotshot. Will landed hard.

"Are you all right Hotshot?" Bishop asked.

"Now that the calvary has arrived I am." he said.

"What the hell are these things kid?" Wolverine asked.

"These are the humans who were taken during the kidnapping."

They were now surrounded. Will saw the hallway behind them suddenly cleared by a psionic blast.

The White Queen and Husk came out of the elevator. The creatures turned to attack them as well and Husk ripped of her skin and assumed the form of a spiked metal statue. She tore into the ranks of the creatures and fought her way to Hotshot's side.

"Where's Storm?" Wolverine asked.

"She's getting the others." White Queen answered.

* * *

Chamber blasted a group of creatures away from the stairs, while Storm and Banshee blew some down the hall with a blast of wind and sound. Sabertooth and Penance tore some apart. Blink teleported some away, and M and Synch threw the rest out windows. Skin raced down the stairs and saw Bishop finishing off the last of the creatures.

"Yo Professor!" Skin called. "We finished cleaning up the things upstairs, what next?"

"Now we return the attack," Emma said grimly, "A thousand fold."

To be continued...


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Sabertooth stopped the car, and Hotshot, and M crept out.

"All right, you know the location of the base. Try not to do to much damage to the computers." Hotshot said.

"I'll try to restrain myself kid. Just watch your back in there." Sabertooth answered and drove off.

M flew three feet off the ground next to Hotshot as he stealthily made his way through the forest.

"I'm impressed with your skill at sneaking. I've never met a better sneak."

"Thanks. I think." He came to a stop as the base came into view. The low building had a strange look to it. "They didn't repair the hole Grey made very well."

"Is that why the wall has such a hurried look to it?"

"I think so." He began to circle the building. "I remember that there was an air vent on one of these walls when I escaped. We're taking the same route that I took, so it should be visible from here."

"You remember all that?"

"Photographic memory. Comes in handy sometimes. There it is, let's go." They crept to the edge of the clearing and stopped. "All right, now we wait."

* * *

Wolverine, Bishop, and Sabertooth approached the hidden entrance of the base. When they reached it, Bishop blasted it open with his gun. They entered the base as the alarm sounded. The first wave had struck.

* * *

Hotshot heard the alarm.

"That's it, let's go." he and M went to the vent and Hotshot melted it off. M followed him inside.

* * *

Arcade started at the sound of the alarm.

"Whoa! We've got company! I guess the neighbors have finally decided to apologize for dumping on our ground. Or maybe it's an encyclopedia salesman." He turned on the surveillance monitors and saw the intruders.

"Weeeell now! Sabertooth, Wolverine, and Bishop. Selene was supposed to take care of them. Just shows to go ya, if you want something done, you've got to do it yourself. Now who should I send to do this for me?" He tapped a few keys on the consol, then moved the mouse to indicate an icon on the screen.

"Hmmm. I know, my three strongest slaves for my three strongest opponents. Rogue, Random, and Strong Guy."

* * *

Bishop turned the corner and was flung back into Wolverine. Strong Guy ran from where he was hiding and grabbed Sabertooth. Rogue flew around the corner and hit Wolverine, while Random opened fire on Bishop.

* * *

Hotshot peered though the vent into the computer room. It was empty.

"Where's Arcade?" M asked.

"He's probably in the main control room. This is the computer core. I can control everything controlled by computer in this complex from here." He melted the vent and slipped into the room.

"Are you sure you can get into this computer? Did Jean know any passwords?" M asked as he sat at the console.

"Yes I'm sure, and no she didn't." he said.

* * *

In less than five minutes he said "I'm in." He called up the schematics for the teleporting devices.

"It would appear that when the devices are activated, they bring the person directly to brainwashing chambers." M observed. Hotshot proceeded to search the computer for the file controlling the brainwashing chambers.

The words Access Granted, appeared on the screen.

"All right." he said. "Now, lets see what we can do here. Chamber setting...here we go. Chamber setting now in reverse."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a CD. "God I love CD ROM's." he said.

* * *

Strong Guy planted a device on Sabertooth and then turned towards Bishop. Wolverine saw Sabertooth vanish and looked for the device on Strong Guy. While he was distracted, Rogue flew at him, without her gloves on. Wolverine caught her wrists and held her off then slammed her against the wall. The teleporter was activated, and she vanished. Wolverine leaped onto Strong Guy's back and slashed at the teleporter on his back. The damage caused it to misfire and both Wolverine and Strong Guy disappeared. Bishop, having absorbed all of the energy Random had launched at him so far, released it all in one volley that blasted Random apart. Random Vanished.

* * *

Hotshot pulled the CD out of the computer and pressed enter. "That's it we're done." He turned to the door and saw their escape blocked by The Black Queen.  
"Aw fuck." he swore. "Look, it's people like you what cause unrest."

* * *

"What the hell's going on in there?" Banshee asked.

"I don't know," White Queen answered. "It's shielded, I can't penetrate."

Suddenly, the sky lit up before them. Storm gasped, before them they saw a battalion of mutants: Forge, Wolfsbane, Polaris, Quicksilver, Multiple Man, Havoc, Jubilee, Majik, Karma, Cyclops, Iceman, Psylocke, Gambit, Archangel, and Beast.

_I think we've got our work cut out fer us mates._ Chamber said. Then the bandages that hid his disfigurement fell away as he released the energy within. He let the energy encompass him as he searched for a likely target. He believed he had found one in Multiple Man. The blast of energy hit him dead on and sent dupes flying in all directions. The dupes were the first to attack.

Penance did not really understand what was going on, but she did know that the men that all looked alike were attacking her friends. She raced ahead, digging shallow furrows in the ground beneath her. When she was in front of the rest, she stopped and waited. Being the first available target, the dupes tackled her. A decision they soon regretted. For on contact with her, they were cut to ribbons.

* * *

"How long before the chambers release the others?" M asked.

"Not for a while." Hotshot said.

"We're on our own then."

"Alllllll rightie then." Hotshot said. Without warning he launched himself at Selene. His sudden attack caught her completely by surprise. His fist caught her on the chin and his elbow connected with her shoulder. He grabbed her arm and threw her over his shoulder. She had not been prepared to fight physically. While she lay, dazed on the floor, Hotshot looked down at her in contempt.

"Stay out of my head Bitch." he said and kicked her in the head. She was out cold. Her slaves stopped moving and fell to the ground.

"Let's blow this crap hole." He said. "You call me on the comm link when everyone's out." He gave her the CD and stalked out of the room, past the now docile creatures, not waiting for a reply.

* * *

Skin had watched Multiple man and knew which one was the original. He reached out and wrapped his extra skin around him and held him tight. Skin began to squeeze. Multiple Man ran out of breath and lost consciousness. Then he vanished.

Husk tore off her skin and let it fall to the ground revealing a magnificent Phoenix. She took to the air and screamed a challenge to Archangel. He swooped at her but she effortlessly evaded the pass. She flew high above him and plummeted in an attack of her own. Her claws raked his back, but he placed a teleporter on her even as he fell. The devices were activated almost in synch with each other and the combatants were gone.

Storm took flight as soon as she saw the battle between Husk and Archangel end. She circled the battle field and spotted Gambit just in time to dodge his card. "Lightning, cleanse the evil from his mind!" she cried. A bolt of lightning sent electricity coursing through his body. The lightning could easily have killed him, but she carefully kept her power in check. He fell to the ground and vanished.

Banshee was almost immediately bombarded by blasts from Forge's gun. One scream destroyed the gun, and another knocked Forge out. Forge was gone.

White Queen did not see the blow that knocked her to the ground but she knew that it was Psylocke that delivered it. Psylocke stood over her and formed a psychic blade. White Queen let loose with a psychic attack of her own. Psylocke recoiled and White queen seized her wrist. Desperately she thrust the blade into Psylocke's own head. The blade threw Psylocke into turmoil as it cut through the conditioning imposed upon her by Arcade. Screaming, she vanished as the teleporter was activated.

* * *

Hotshot ran down the hallway towards the furnace room. All around him lay the victims of the Black Queen's savage psychic attack. Hotshot mourned the loss of these innocent lives but he stopped short when he saw a familiar figure lying on the floor. Stopping, he stooped by the side of Jean Grey. The woman who had saved him from the fate of the brainwashed X-Men, had suffered a fate far worse than death, because of him. A sudden inspiration hit him and he ran to the store room.

* * *

Blink saw the blue furry man come at her. She smiled faintly and teleported behind and above him. She came down hard on his back, and drove him to the ground. He rolled and came for her again but she was gone again.

* * *

Hotshot returned with a sack full of teleporters. He attached one to Jean. He remembered from the computer how they worked. He pressed the activator and watched her disappear. He knew that whatever information the computer had on her would be transferred to her brain. He didn't know how much there was, but it was the only chance she had. Picking up the sack, he started once again for the storage room.

* * *

Blink tired of playing with Beast. She teleported him to the exact same spot as he was already standing. The strain knocked him out, activating the teleporter.

A red beam exploded next to Chamber sending him flying. He landed hard barely able to psionically cushion his fall.

_All right mate, if that's the way yer want to play it._ He released the energy within him and blew Cyclops back into a tree. The battle raged back and forth for ten minutes till finally Cyclops hit a tree behind Chamber. The tree fell and trapped him. Cyclops advanced cautiously and did not see Skin grab a large stick behind him and swing it. The skin on his fingers swept the stick into the back of Cyclops' head. Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Chamber destroyed the tree and stood. Energy coursed around him as he struck at Cyclops. The energy blast tore the visor from Cyclops' face and sent him reeling. Skin used his skin to form a sling and launched a large rock at Cyclops. The teleporter took him out of the fight.

To be continued...


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Hotshot emptied his sack onto the floor of the furnace room. Carefully, he cannibalized the teleporters and took the power pack from each one. He wired them together, and using some duct tape he'd found, attached them to the huge "furnace" that powered the entire complex. Then he turned and switched on the computer terminal and began to stall.

* * *

M entered the chamber room, and stopped short. She had arrived just in time to see Cyclops materialize inside one of the chambers. The fight was apparently going rather well. several of the brainwashed X-Men were already in chambers. She looked impatiently at the empty chambers and sat down on the floor to wait.

* * *

Synch sidled up to Blink. "Mind if I lend a hand?" he asked, indicating the charging Wolfsbane. Blink shook her head. Synch reached out with his power and felt hers joining with the Synching aura. Synch teleported behind Wolfsbane and threw his shoulder against her back. She began to recover just as Blink appeared above her and struck with both feet. The teleporter activated soon after.

Their victory was short lived however, for they were immediately attacked by Majik and Karma. While Majik attacked Synch, Karma possessed Blink. Still synched to Blink's power, he dodged both Majik's and the possessed Blink's attacks. Fighting panic, he synched himself with Karma's power, and possessed Majik. Turning, Majik suddenly slammed the flat of the Soul Sword against the side of Karma's head, she crumpled to the ground even as she faded away. Thus released, Blink quickly activated Majik's teleporter, just as Synch lost control of her, no longer having Karma nearby to synch with.

Banshee found himself blasted out of the sky by thousands of tiny explosions. He fell to the ground and struggled to his feet only to be knocked once again. Jubilee advanced cautiously, every time she saw him draw in a breath to scream, she blasted him again. When she was close enough to slip a teleporter on him, she was suddenly thrown to the side by a psionic blast. Chamber watched as she disappeared, then reached out a hand to help Banshee up.

"Thank ye lad." Banshee said.

_Don't mention it Guv._ Chamber replied.

"Lad!" Banshee cried. "Get down!" They ducked a plasma blast from Havok. Banshee took him out with a scream.

Skin watched as the blur that was Quicksilver approached Penance. Quickly, he stretched his arm skin and wrapped it around a tree then kept stretching it till it reached another tree and wrapped around it. No sooner had he accomplished this then Quicksilver passed between the trees. He flew backwards at least three feet. He quickly vanished. Skin reeled with the impact. Penance looked at him with concern on her face but he waved her away.

"I'm all right Chica. Thanks for bein' bait."

The White Queen psionically hid herself from Polaris, and looked for the teleporter. Finding it, she reached out with her mind and activated it.

Storm used gale force winds to blow Ice man off his perch. He soon made himself a column of ice to save himself. But while he was distracted, Storm had found the teleporter. She sent a small bolt of lightning into the device to activate it. And so the battle ended.

* * *

Bishop stalked through the corridors of the building, his gun at the ready. As he passed a door, he heard noises from inside. He held the gun in front of him, burst in. M was assisting Strong Guy from the chamber.

"I'm never taking the subway again." he said.

Bishop looked at the array of chambers in the room. All of the missing mutants were here. "How much longer before the rest are released?" he asked M. No sooner had he spoke, then three of the chambers opened, and Husk, Wolverine, and Sabertooth were released.

One by one, the chambers opened, releasing their contents. The last to be released, was Jean Grey. Cyclops, his eyes clenched tight to hold in his optic blasts, asked tensely, "Why hasn't she been released yet?"

"There has been more damage done to her mind than to anyone else's." M said. "The Black Queen drained her mind. When Arcade used the machine on her, it retained all the information that was in her head. Now it's putting it back in."

Soon the chamber containing Jean opened and she slumped to the floor. Wolverine helped her to her feet.

"Is the boy all right?" she asked.

"Last I heard darlin'." Wolverine answered and looked at M.

"He was fine when I left him."

"You however, will be far from all right!" said a voice from the doorway. There stood the purple clad man that they had seen before.

Polaris looked wearily at the man and clenched her fist. There was a sound of wrenching metal and the man's head collapsed in on itself. Sparks flew, and the 'man' fell with a clang.

* * *

Storm smiled as the procession exited the building. M the last in line, spoke into the comm-badge on her chest, and nodded.

"Where is Hotshot?" Storm asked.

"Finishing it." M said softly.

* * *

Hotshot was running out of ways to stall Arcade, who was trying to access the computer. Finally, he got the signal from M.

"We're out." she said.

"Good. Get every one away from the building." He picked up the detonator, and started the program he'd put on the computer.

* * *

"It's about time!" yelled Arcade as he finally managed to access the computer. "I knew I shouldn't have gotten Windows '95."

Suddenly the screen flashed the message: ATTENTION K-MART SHOPPERS, ALL FILES ON THIS COMPUTER HAVE BEEN COPIED AND THEN ERASED. PRESS ENTER TO CONTINUE...  
Numbly, Arcade pressed enter, the synthesized voice of Samuel L. Jackson emanated from the speakers. EZEKIAL 25, 17. THE PATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN IS BESET ON ALL SIDES, BY THE INEQUITIES OF THE SELFISH, AND THE TYRANNY OF EVIL MEN. AND BLESSED IS HE WHO IN THE NAME OF CHARITY AND GOODWILL SHEPHERDS THE WEAK, THROUGH THE VALLEY OF DARKNESS, FOR HE IS TRULY HIS BROTHERS KEEPER. AND THE FINDER OF LOST CHILDREN. AND I WILL STRIKE DOWN UPON THEE WITH GREAT VENGEANCE, AND FURIOUS ANGER! THOSE TRY TO POISON, AND DESTROY MY BROTHERS! AND YOU WILL KNOW MY NAME IS THE LORD, WHEN I LAY MY VENGEANCE UPON THEE!

* * *

Hotshot pressed the detonator.

* * *

The shockwave created by the explosion, sent them flying.

"What the hell was that?" asked Jamie.

"That," answered Monet, "Was Will destroying Arcade's headquarters, and hopefully Arcade and his accomplice with it." Saying this, she flew quickly to the site of the explosion, and began to sift through the rubble.

"You don't actually think that he survived that do you?" asked Guido.

"That's a very insensitive thing to say. But yes I do. Part of his powers is immunity to damage by impact with blunt objects and heat." Guido, and Rogue helped her lift the massive debris. They soon found him buried under the remains of the furnace, unconscious. His left cheek had been slashed by shrapnel, and there were several lacerations on his stomach. His clothes had been incinerated in the explosion. He was completely naked.

"If he survives this, he's going to die of embarrassment." Monet said humorously.

"Ah won't tell if you won't." answered Rogue.

"I'll go get a blanket." Guido said blushing.

To be continued...


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Two days later, Jubilee went down to the music room, to introduce herself to the new student. She stopped in the door way a moment and listened. He was playing one of her favorite songs, Winter, by Tori Amos. She got lost in the melody, and then began to sing along. She didn't sing often, but it somehow seemed appropriate. He did not seem startled, or angry at her intrusion to his privacy, in fact he seemed grateful. He had his eye closed while he played and there seemed to be almost infinite sorrow on his face. When the song ended, he sat for a moment then turned towards her. She was taken aback for a moment at the sight. She got the impression of simultaneous grief and joy. On one side of his face was the adamantium patch, and on the other the bandaged cheek. He smiled at her.

"You've got a nice voice." he said.

"Thanks, you're a good piano player."

"Guess we make a good team then." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Will."

"I'm Jubilee." she said, taking his hand. "I just wanted to thank you for bailing me out back there." she hesitated. "I'm not good at the expressing my feelings thing, so I'll just come right out and say it. My parents were murdered too. So, anytime, you want to talk about it, I'm here."

A look of relief flashed through his eye. "Thank you." he said softly. Then he looked at his watch. "Oh jeez ow. it's time for me to go."

"Where are you going?" Jubilee asked.

"I'm going up to Vermont to see my parent's grave." he answered. "You wanna come?"

"No thanks, this is something you need to do alone."

* * *

"How did you get out of jail?" Jaimie asked Rachel.

"The jury ruled accidental death. There are still some un-prejudiced people in the world Jaimie."

"I apologize for way I just left you there."

"You had every right to be upset. Don't beat yourself up over it." She kissed him. "So, do you want to go to a movie?"

* * *

It was raining hard when Will and Betsy arrived at Burlington Cemetery. Will opened the passenger side door, and got out.

"You sure you can find it on your own?" Betsy asked.

"I know where the Family Plot is." he answered. "This shouldn't take long."

"Take all the time you need."

Will walked slowly through the pouring rain. Looking at the dates on the tombstones as he walked past. Finally he came to his destination. His parents had bought the plots when his sister died eleven years ago. He'd been there when they bought it, and knew the spot well. Four stones were erected in a row. He read the inscriptions on each: **James Thomas Davidson, 1955-1997, Loving Husband and Father; Jennifer Wesley Davidson, 1958-1997, Loving Wife and Mother**. Will wondered why they had such drab inscriptions. He put the flowers he had brought, on the graves and turned to leave. Then, he hesitated and read his own tombstone: **William Alexander Davidson, 1978-1997, And now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep, If I should die before I wake...Well never mind.**

Will smiled, he wondered who had told them that that was what he'd wanted. He'd told several people. He looked at his sister's stone next: **Rebecca Angela Davidson, 1978-1985, Stop staring at me!**. That had been his idea. Taking a last look at the plot he left, saying a silent farewell to those that rested there.

* * *

Sarah trudged sadly through the rain towards her dead boyfriend's grave. His death had effected her more than anyone else. She alone knew how close they'd been. She'd gladly have given up her life to save him. She knew that now she would never know how much he loved her. She knew what he was, why he and his family were killed. She did not believe that she would ever get over the pain that his loss would bring her.

On the way, she passed a boy going in the opposite direction. She did a double take. The boy looked almost exactly like...but no, now that she saw him clearly, she could see that it wasn't him. His face was scarred, and he was missing an eye. Suddenly her mind screamed to confront the boy, that the explosion could have caused the scars, and missing eye. But she could not. She merely watched him, and wondered. When she arrived at the graves, she saw with shock that some one had placed flowers on the graves of his parents, but not his. She raced back where she had seen him go. He was approaching a black rental car.

"Will!" she shouted. He turned, and looked at her in amazement. She ran up to him and flung her arms around his neck and head, giving him a hard, passionate kiss. The feel of his arms around her, and his lips against hers sent a thrill down her spine. She finally released him and asked in a breathless and angry tone.

"What the hell happened?"

"It's a long story. I don't really have time to tell it right now but..." He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, it was in a plastic bag to protect it from the rain.

"This is a letter to my grandparents. It contains the whole story. As well as my reasons for wanting people to think I'm dead. And," he added smiling, "it has the address and phone number where I can be reached. When you've finished, please send it to my grandparents. Then call me." He kissed her. "Unless you don't think we can make a long distance relationship work." He waved good-bye and got into the car. The rain continued to fall but the world seemed just a bit sunnier to her. She waved as the car drove away.

The End


End file.
